NIE states "We assess that greatly increased worldwide counterterrorism efforts over the past five years have constrained the ability of al-Qa’ida to attack the US Homeland again and have led terrorist groups to perceive the Homeland as a harder target to strike than on 9/11."Originally Posted by Jedburgh
Clapper states, "Our greatly increased worldwide counterterrorism efforts since 9/11 have constrained the ability of al Qaeda to attack the U.S. again and have led terrorist groups to view the homeland as a harder target to strike than it was on 9/11."
I am impressed that verbatim everyone is saying the same thing...so much for independent analysis of the threat. Also, Clapper does a great job of plugging DoD and all it has done to prepare itself for the "next big one" which only time will tell if we're truly ready or not. I won't start to go down the Hurricane Katrina road, but will leave it out there as a possible indication that we're a little too heavy on topside of response management and too light at the actual response where the real lifting gets done...many things contribute to this which is a discussion all its own.
My fear is that people assume no attack on the homeland equates to marginilization of Al Qaeda and its ideology. However, this doesn't apply to Iraq where Al Qaeda is marketed as the "boogeyman" thus justifying military action and resource expenditure. In my opinion, this is a lot of verbal flatulatence trying to "remind" Americans that the enemy is still out there but not to fear he is in Iraq and not coming to our doorstep. Real change in policy will occur when the next 9-11 style attack does occur and the public once again demands something be done.
Lastly, I did like Clapper's defense of Musharraf and explanations of how the tribal areas are used as a base by AQ and Taliban, this is knowledge that has been around since the Soviet-Afghan War...so much for remembering and heeding history.
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