Leaked documents puzzle Lo Basso

By Francesca Lo Basso
Collegian Staff
October 4, 2006

You ever have those moments where you think life is simple – for an instant – and then you find out the world was getting undeniably more bizarre behind your back? Yeah, me too.

This past week I had one of those moments. While I was gallivanting around the city, President Bush, The New York Times and Iraq were having a full-blown Pay Per View-worthy WWF match. Here’s a brief sketch of the events over the past week:

On Sunday, Sept. 24, The New York Times leaked information from the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) – the most comprehensive document to date on Iraq, compiled over two years and including reports from all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies – that says that the Iraq War has radicalized a new generation of anti-American Muslim extremists around the world.

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, the White House declassified four pages of the 30-page document and released a fact sheet of information, claiming the NIE does not contradict what President Bush has previously said about the United States’ triumph in Iraq being critical to the war on terror.

On Wednesday, Sept.27, Bush said parts of the NIE were leaked to try and mislead the American public with just weeks remaining until the Nov. 7 midterm elections, while Democrats demanded the NIE report be released in full.

Also, Democrats proposed for a secret session of the House of Representatives to give lawmakers the chance to discuss the report was voted down.

The information released Tuesday ignores the conclusion of the NIE that says Iraq “breeds a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world” – as well as ignoring the phrase (and I quote) U.S. involvement in Iraq is “a cause celebre for jihadists.” The NIE report actually says that the Iraq War is helping terrorists.

This means Bush ignored the conclusion in the fact sheet released by the White House on Tuesday that says Iraq has fueled Islamic terrorism. And the administration’s account actually completely contradicts Bush’s statement in Atlanta on Sept. 7, in which he said, “America is winning the war on terror.”

The four declassified pages of the NIE conclude the Iraq War is one of several underlying factors fueling terrorist activities such as longstanding anger at corrupt governments, fear of Western domination and the slow pace of economic and political reforms. Even though the U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign has disrupted terrorist networks, the declassified pages even say, “Al Qaeda, affiliated and independent terrorist groups and emerging networks and cells are spreading and adapting to counterterrorism efforts.”

But what’s truly bizarre (because the Bush administration denying that war leads to death is not exactly breaking news), is that Bush has used the NIE leakage to call Democrats “obstructionists” who will run from the fight in Iraq. And what’s even more frighteningly comical is that Bush is using the cataclysmic state of Iraq to say that the situation will be worsened if the United States leaves.

In a catch-22 of epic proportions, Bush is saying the invasion of Iraq has created a new army of terrorists who will be emboldened by an American withdrawal; therefore, the United States has to stay indefinitely and keep fighting those terrorists. So the more the United States fights, the longer the war stretches on.

So what does all of this mean, folks? That something’s finally hit the fan, and it’s spraying on everyone.

lobassof1@lasalle.edu