Ramzy Baroud, writing for Asia Times Online discusses findings from the US State Department's Annual Terrorism Report for 2007. Some cogent observations follow:
... Iraq accounted for 60% of worldwide terrorism fatalities.
Considering that the horrifying violence currently witnessed in Iraq was unheard of prior to the US invasion of 2003, will the Bush administration take a moment to connect the dots? Even a third-grader could figure this one out: the US occupation was a major, if not sole factor in Iraq's relentless bloodbath. To right the wrong in Iraq, the US military should clearly just withdraw, and Bush - or whoever next claims the White House - should stop fabricating pretexts to justify the prolonged mission.
...
[T]he report's findings, if viewed responsibly, substantiate the claim that the Bush administration's policies have only made the world more unsafe. Wouldn't a war against Iran hike up the number of violent or terrorist activities?
It also remains unclear how powerful al-Qaeda really is, and how much of its capabilities were hyped in order to enable the Bush administration to continue its mission.
Quite an important issue - just how large and powerful is al-Qaeda?
How big is their navy? (they have none)
How big is their air-force? (they have none)
How big are their ground forces?
Where are those ground forces located? (not in Iraq)
