IT DOESN'T PAY TO BE STUPID WHEN YOU'RE A 101ST PALTALK CHAIRBORNE RANGER

Maybe we can print out the newest National Intelligence Estimate into a phonebook-sized form and beat Waiting_for_Godot senseless with it:

NYT:

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

An opening section of the report, “Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement,” cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

The report “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse,” said one American intelligence official.

We've tried for years to explain this to knuckleheads like Godot, who pay lip service to opposing Bush, but have no clue how to fight against terrorist cells. You can tell just by listening that Godot looks in the mirror and sees General Patton squinting back with steely resolve. He glares at all the "cowards" and "libruls" in paltalk with contempt, spit-shining his tin medals. "If only they'd listen to me," he thinks, "If only they knew what had to be done."

Well, welcome to your debacle, you moron. You can fight terrorism effectively without foolish bravado, Godot, because it's the mindless machismo that makes you think you can ignore reality and rationality. We all know that the Bobby McGee's are off the rails, but you don't get that you're just as far off the rails in the opposite direction. And this newest NIE proves it. We were right all along, and we tried to warn you. I still hear you bellowing about fighting the Iraqi insurgency, as if that's a major front in fighting terrorism. Do you still not get that the entire muslim world is not one giant monolithic entity? That different groups can have different ideologies, and different goals? And at long last, after three years of war, can you not understand that our only major accomplishment is dramatically increasing the power of Iran?

While you and your ilk have been yelling about Iraq, Islamic jihadism has been looming larger and stronger. And if soon we are able to sweep Bush and his neocon Republican cabal out of our way, to grab the controls before we tumble over the brink, we're going to have to sweep you out of the way too. I get that you want to fight terrorism. We do too. The new NIE proves you wouldn't be smart enough to run the show. So why don't you go lie down and let us handle it?

JC