Fear-mongers in the Associated Press

Everywhere I turn this morning, some media outlet is telling me that some secret report was leaked and intelligence places al Qaeda back to it’s 2001 strength. At least from the Washington Post there’s no speculation about it’s pre-2001 strength;

Six years after the Bush administration declared war on al-Qaeda, the terrorist network is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and planning attacks, according to a new Bush administration intelligence report to be discussed today at a White House meeting.

The report, a five-page threat assessment compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, is titled “Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West,” intelligence officials said. It concludes that the group has significantly rebuilt itself despite concerted U.S. attempts to smash the network.

But the Associated Press isn’t that shy;

A new threat assessment from U.S. counterterrorism analysts says that Al Qaeda has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001.

In fact the Washington Post story,  goes so far that it points out that intelligence officials said that al Qaeda is “considerably weaker” than they were in 2001;

While asserting that al-Qaeda is still considerably weaker than it was before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the new report concludes that the group is stronger than it has been in years. “There is heightened concern given al-Qaeda’s operational activity [and] . . . operational levels” along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the U.S. official said.

WaPo is certainly no supporter of the war against terror. Despite the Washington Post’s contrary story, every radio and television news broadcast has repeated the silly AP headline as news.

Need I remind the Associated Press and their assorted minions in broadcast news that in 2001 al Qaeda had their own country and at least the tacit support of three other countries. Not only have they lost Afghanistan, they don’t have the support of Pakistani government forces any longer. They’ve lost operational bases throughout the region where they enjoyed a virtual open range for training and operations.

They may be stronger than they were in late 2001 – but that’s only because their willing accomplices in the media (that’s you, AP) make recruiting so easy.

Elsewhere in the Associated Press story on MyWay;

The official and others spoke to The Associated Press on condition they not be identified because the report remains classified.

I hope the Bush Adminstration sends “the official and others” out hunting with Dick Cheney – or hunting with me, for that matter.

Category: Foreign Policy, Media, Politics, Terror War