Media Battle re Bleak NIE Iraq Assessment

Intelligence assessment: Iraq war worsened terrorist threat
Intelligence assessment says Iraq war has worsened terrorist threat
By Nedra Pickler
ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 24, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Iraq war has contributed to an increased threat of terrorism, according to an intelligence assessment that has not lessened the Senate majority leader's defense of the U.S.-led invasion three years ago and occupation.

The classified assessment of the war's impact on terrorism came in a National Intelligence Estimate that represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government, an intelligence official said Sunday. The official, confirming accounts first published in Sunday's New York Times and Washington Post, spoke on condition of anonymity because the report is classified.

The report found that the war has helped create a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn. said he had not seen the classified report, which was completed in April, but said Americans understand the United States must continue to fight terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere.

"Either we are going to be fighting this battle, this war overseas, or it's going to be right here in this country," Frist said on ABC's "This Week," echoing an argument that President Bush frequently makes.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a statement that the assessment "should put the final nail in the coffin for President Bush's phony argument about the Iraq war."

"How many more independent reports, how many more deaths, how much deeper into civil war will Iraq need to fall for the White House to wake up and change its strategy in Iraq?"

A White House spokesman, Blair Jones, said "We don't comment on classified documents" and that the published accounts' "characterization of the NIE is not representative of the complete document."

Frist said, "We've got to win this war on terror, wherever it is, and it's going to be fought overseas, or if we don't win there, it's going to be fought here in the United States."

As part of the overall strategy of combating terrorism, Frist also said he expects Congress to pass legislation this week that would set rules for the interrogation and trial of suspected terrorists. The president has pressured lawmakers to put it into law before adjourning for the midterm elections.

The legislation is the result of a compromise between the White House and holdout Republican senators who had disagreed over how far the U.S. should be allowed to go to get information from suspected terrorists. The bill lists acts that would constitute a war crime, including torture, rape, biological experiments and cruel and inhuman treatment.

Frist would not say whether the legislation would ban techniques that U.S. agents reportedly have used in the past, such as simulated drowning, cold cells, prolonged standing and sleep deprivation. He also said he did not know whether the bill would prevent prosecution of North Koreans, for example, if they captured Americans and simulated drowning, a technique known as "water boarding."

"I'm not going to comment on individual techniques," Frist said. "It helps the terrorists and the reason why it helps the terrorists who are going to come and try to assassinate us and people listening to us right now."
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Associated Press writer Jim Drinkard contributed to this report.