CIA director George Tenet testified publicly today about the status of the War on Terror. Here's what he called the "stark bottom-line:"
The al-Qa`ida leadership structure we charted after September 11 is seriously damaged—but the group remains as committed as ever to attacking the US homeland.But as we continue the battle against al-QA`ida, we must overcome a movement—a global movement infected by al-QA`ida's radical agenda.
In this battle we are moving forward in our knowledge of the enemy—his plans, capabilities, and intentions.
And what we've learned continues to validate my deepest concern: that this enemy remains intent on obtaining, and using, catastrophic weapons.
Then he said this:
But al-QA`ida is not the limit of terrorist threat worldwide. Al-QA`ida has infected others with its ideology, which depicts the United States as Islam's greatest foe. Mr. Chairman, what I want to say to you now may be the most important thing I tell you today.The steady growth of Usama bin Ladin's anti-US sentiment through the wider Sunni extremist movement and the broad dissemination of al-QA`ida's destructive expertise ensure that a serious threat will remain for the foreseeable future—with or without al-QA`ida in the picture.
A decade ago, bin Ladin had a vision of rousing Islamic terrorists worldwide to attack the United States. He created al-QA`ida to indoctrinate a worldwide movement in global jihad, with America as the enemy—an enemy to be attacked with every means at hand.
There's a lot more. Read the whole thing for yourself via the Central Intelligence Agency before the media spin it for you.
Posted by Alan at February 24, 2004 11:45 AM