Al-Qaida May Try Attack on U.S. in Iraq

[Khephra]

LONDON -- Al-Qaida or its allies may try to mount a "spectacular" attack on U.S. forces in Iraq until they are ready to attempt another big attack on American soil, a think tank warned Wednesday.

Washington was apparently "overconfident" in saying it had al-Qaida on the run with its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq probably boosted support for Al-Qaida among Muslims, the International Institute of Strategic Studies said in releasing its annual "Military Balance," an authoritative guide to military forces and conflicts around the world.

It said the war hurt al-Qaida by denying it a potential source of weapons of mass destruction and discouraging states such as Syria and Iran from supporting it. But the war had also boosted sympathy and support for the group in the Muslim world, it added.

"On the minus side, war in Iraq has probably inflamed radical passions among Muslims and thus increased al-Qaida's recruiting power and morale and, at least marginally, its operational capability," it said.

more..............

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-britain-al-qaida,0,1841193.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[demnan]

1. Who paid which think tank of geniuses to come up with that

obvious truth?

[saigon68]

3. They are coming to get you.

A sign at a drive-in theatre Circa: 1963

[Voltaire99]

12. RE: Vietnam. "The ungrateful"?

Question about your sig, with which I largely agree up until the final phrase: just who should have been grateful for the slaughter of Vietnamese women and children, pray tell?

Pity, help, and understanding for Americans drafted into hell seems appropriate; but gratitude? No. Your sig could be read to imply that critics of that obscene war were ingrates, when in fact they helped to end it.

[Stuckinthebush]

11. LOL! I was thinking the same thing...

They could have paid me half of what they paid those think tankers to give them that information!

[Submariner]

2. Well tell them to please stay the **ck away from Nasariyah

I may have to go there in 2 weeks for a job, and I don't want them screwing with me. I am just a lowly marine biologist, not a good terrorist target. x(

[Devils Advocate NZ]

7. What would a marine biologist have to do in Nasiriyah?

Damn, that job must SUCK!

[Submariner]

10. Molluscs of Mass Destruction (MMD)

and the terrorist Euphrates River barnicle (Alquadus talibanus) are clogging the power plant cooling water intake and piping systems. I have to go there to show them how to inject the right dose of chlorine and acids to kill off the biofouling without killing every living thing down river to the Persian Gulf.

I always get the fun jobs. It's the fall foliage season, so it could be a nice trip.

[htuttle]

9. Are you working with those 'mine-finding' dolphins?

.

[MUAD_DIB]

4. This story is just in time to ramrod that $87bn

through so that we can save Eye-Wrack from Al-Qaida and the evil Dems.

Pitiful.

[htuttle]

5. One serious question

On this paragraph:

It said the war hurt al-Qaida by denying it a potential source of weapons of mass destruction and discouraging states such as Syria and Iran from supporting it. But the war had also boosted sympathy and support for the group in the Muslim world, it added.

How was Iraq a potential source of weapons of mass destruction IF IT DIDN'T HAVE ANY?

[Minstrel Boy]

6. What are the requirements to be in this "think tank"?

Because if that's the best they got, they ought to raise the bar.

[niyad]

8. yawnnnnnnn-- gee, they didn't even bother to colour-code this one