2nd BLOW TO BUSH-UN Report Agrees With NIE- BUSH ADMIN Making US LESS SAFE

[kpete]

Bush contends with 2 reports refuting Iraq gains By Steve Holland
The U.N. report released on Wednesday jibed with the NEI's conclusions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An intelligence report showing an upsurge in Islamic militancy put the White House on the defensive on Wednesday in an election-year debate over whether President George W. Bush has made America safer.

In a second blow to the president, a new U.N. report said the Iraq war was providing al Qaeda with a training center and fresh recruits, and was inspiring a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan hundreds of miles away.

Bush ordered the release of parts of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Tuesday to try to stamp out a political fire after a leaked portion said the Iraq war had increased Islamic extremism.

But a key judgment in the declassified version that could backfire on Bush said intelligence experts believed activists identifying themselves as jihadists "are increasing in both number and geographic dispersion."

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060927/pl_nm/security_usa_dc_3