The Iraq war "has made global terrorism worse by fanning Islamic
radicalism," a newspaper report quoted US intelligence agencies as
saying on Sunday.
The war has also provided "a training ground for lethal methods
that are increasingly being exported to other countries," the
Los Angeles Times said, quoted assessments by US
intelligence agencies.
The paper cited the "bleak analysis" by 16 US intelligence units
which said the conflict has spread extremism and serves as a
laboratory for deadly tactics.
The classified document, which represents a consensus view of
all 16 US intelligence agencies, paints a considerably bleaker
picture of the impact of the Iraq war than the Bush administration
or US intelligence officials have acknowledged publicly, the paper
noted.
The report, titled "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for
the United States," was completed and described to US government
officials in April but not made public, according to the paper.
It said the 30-page report documents an array of disturbing
trends in the war on terrorism and focuses on forces that are
contributing to the evolution of Islamic terrorist networks from
centralized structures to an increasingly fragmented ideological
movement.
This is contrary to the claim by President George W. Bush, the
United States has become safer because of the Iraq War, the paper
noted.
The assessment pointed to the flow of Moslems from other
countries, including Europe, to Iraq to join the insurgency, said
the paper.
Those who survive the fighting often leave and return to their
home countries with dangerous new experience in urban fighting,
bomb-making and - perhaps most important - credibility with other
potential Moslem recruits, the paper quoted the assessment as
saying.
(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2006)
