US agencies conclude ‘Iraq war fuels terror’

How many special agents does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Apparently - under optimum conditions - tens of thousands.

That's how preposterous it is that it should take 3 years, billions of dollars, and 16 spy agencies, manned by tens of thousands of intelligence agents, to conclude that which was patently obvious to anyone with half a brain from day one.

The New York Times newspaper has published what it says are the findings of a classified US intelligence paper on the effects of the Iraq war.

The document reportedly blames the conflict for increasing the threat of terrorism and helping fuel Islamic radicalism worldwide.

Such a conclusion is at odds with the White House's persistent claim that going to war was the right thing to do.

The paper has not seen the report, but spoke to people familiar with it.

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The BBC's Andre Vornic in New York says the National Intelligence Estimate, as the document is known, is all the more significant for reflecting the views of no fewer than 16 US spy agencies:

According to the New York Times, it says the Iraq war has triggered more, not less, terrorism, and helped spread jihadist ideology.

It also reportedly concludes that al-Qaeda has now mutated into a global franchise of semi-autonomous cells.

The estimate is the first US assessment of international terrorism since the Iraq war began.

The New York Times has spoken to officials who have either read it, or been involved in drafting it.

If what they say is true, our correspondent says, the document appears to undermine US President George W Bush's insistence that for all the flaws of the Iraq war, the world is now a safer place.

Don't you just love the way they use fancy technical terms like "jihadist ideology" and "global franchise of semi-autonomous cells" to describe what is clearly an entirely natural phenomenon: spontaneous reactions to brutal occupation by isolated individuals with only one thing in common - their humanity.

Our government just doesn't get it. They believe their own lies.

The truth about Iraqis, or any other people for that matter, is not what the US government thinks it is, or how they would like it to be or would like others to believe that it is.

The truth is that DESPITE the fact that the US government thinks Iraqis are animals and DESPITE the fact that they treat them that way - Iraqis are HUMAN and they react accordingly - regardless of whether or not their oppressors anticipate it.

Moreover, regardless of how that reaction is characterized, it remains what it is - a natural human response.

So - as the saying goes - keep doing what you're doing and you'll keep getting what you're getting.

Until US corporate interests STOP trying to take away other people's freedoms (and resources) in order to enhance their own freedoms and increase their own resources, Americans can expect MUCH MORE of the SAME - a whole lot of angry people around the world who will put up a VERY nasty fight to protect themselves and their resources.

Special agents, take note.