posted on May 25, 2004 11:27:51 AM new
LONDON (AFP) - The US-led war on Iraq (news - web sites), far from countering terrorism, has helped revitalise the Al-Qaeda terror network, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank warned.
The London-based body said in its annual Strategic Survey 2003/2004 that the deadly train bombings in Madrid in March, the worst terror strike in Europe for more than a decade, showed that Osama Bin Laden's terror network "had fully reconstituted".
It also predicted the Islamic group would step up its anti-Western attacks, possibly even resorting to weapons of mass destruction and targeting Americans, Europeans and Israelis while continuing to support insurgents opposing the US-led occupation of Iraq.
The IISS pointed to devastating blasts in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in 2003 and 2004 as further evidence that anti-US sentiment had soared since the Iraq war.
"In counter-terrorism terms, the intervention has arguably focused the energies and resources of al-Qaeda and its followers while diluting those of the global counter-terrorism coalition that appeared so formidable following the Afghanistan (news - web sites) intervention in late 2001," the report said.
However, since the war it said that arms proliferation and state-sponsored terrorism has dwindled, with Libya giving up its unconventional weapons programs and Syria becoming "less provocative."
Stalinist North Korea's secret nuclear programme was somehow contained thanks to a negotiating process while Iran agreed to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency over its nuclear activities, the IISS said.
But another legacy of the war was what the IISS termed a highly questionable recourse to pre-emptive strikes as a means of counter-proliferation, as well as "the uses and abuses of intelligence as a basis for military action."
The IISS said the United States, which has dominated world affairs since the end of the Cold War, had failed to understand that Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks were "a violent reaction to America's pre-eminence" and it urged the superpower to temper "the appearance of American unilateralism".
It warned that Washington would have a hard time restoring order in embattled Iraq and stressed that the conflict had brought a political split between the United States and its continental European allies, leaving Britain stuck in the middle.
The survey additionally forecast a possible attention shift away from terrorism, Middle Eastern problems and weapons proliferation should North Korea opt for a more aggressive stance, a humanitarian disaster hit Africa or undesirable regime-changes "produce abrupt and serious security challenges".
The United States will not manage to tackle all of the above single-handedly, warned the think-tank, raising a question mark over Europe's ability to break away from "strategic arthritis."
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 25, 2004 02:05:37 PM new
If all this is "True" explain why terrorist attacks world wide have been reduced in the last 1 1/2 years.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on May 25, 2004 02:16:44 PM new
Where did you learn math?
Suspected al-Qaeda Terrorist Acts
1993 (Feb.): Bombing of World Trade Center (WTC); 6 killed.
1993 (Oct.): Killing of U.S. soldiers in Somalia.
1996 (June): Truck bombing at Khobar Towers barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, kills 19 Americans.
1998 (Aug.): Bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa; 224 killed, including 12 Americans.
1999 (Dec.): Plot to bomb millennium celebrations in Seattle foiled when customs agents arrest an Algerian smuggling explosives into the U.S.
2000 (Oct.): Bombing of the USS Cole in port in Yemen; 17 U.S. sailors killed.
2001 (Sept.): Destruction of WTC, Pentagon attack. Total dead 3,044.
2002 (Apr.): Explosion at historic synagogue in Tunisia leaves 21 dead, including 14 German tourists.
2002 (May): Car explodes outside hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14, including 11 French citizens.
2002 (June): Bomb explodes outside American Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12.
2002 (Oct.): Nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, kill 202, mostly Australian citizens.
2002 (Nov.): Suicide attack on a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, kills 16.
2003 (May): Suicide bombers kill 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2003 (May): Four bombs kill 24 people, targeting Jewish, Spanish, and Belgian sites in Casablanca, Morocco.
2003 (Aug.): Suicide car bomb kills 12, injures 150, at Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
2003 (Nov.): Explosions rock a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia housing compound killing 17.
2003 (Nov.): Suicide car bombers simultaneously attack two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 and injuring hundreds.
2004 (Mar.): Ten terrorists bombs exploded almost simultaneously during the morning rush hour in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 and injuring more than 1,800.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
[ edited by fenix03 on May 25, 2004 02:21 PM ]
posted on May 25, 2004 03:04:24 PM new
Here we go again Bear1949 is trying to spread yet another republican lie. He just DOESN'T GET IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted on May 26, 2004 09:05:56 AM new
or, Iraq will be the Taliban's new world headquarters, Osama bin Laden's new home turf. bin Laden is jumping for joy that Hussein is no longer in power there. He now has free access. Unless we plan to be in occupation forever, we won't be able to shut the door on him.
posted on May 26, 2004 10:37:56 AM new
Bush/Cheney were so stupid they fell right into Bin Ladens trap. A change of leadership here in the USA is a good start to get serious.
posted on May 26, 2004 05:17:29 PM new
Bear if your facts are true how do you dispute this news story?
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-qaida26.html
Re-defeat Bush
------------------------------
In the words from Cher:
We’re gonna love one another ’til morning comes
Sweet salvation for what we’ve done
Give up resisting one by one one by one
