al-Qaida Works to Plant U.S. Operatives
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jul 12, 10:41 PM EDT
*al-Qaida Works to Plant U.S. Operatives*
By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al-Qaida is stepping up its efforts to sneak terror
operatives into the United States and has acquired most of the
capabilities it needs to strike here, according to a new U.S.
intelligence assessment, The Associated Press has learned.
The draft National Intelligence Estimate is expected to paint an
ever-more-worrisome portrait of al-Qaida's ability to use its base along
the Pakistan-Afghan border to launch and inspire attacks against the
United States over the next several years.
Yet, the government's top analysts concluded that U.S. soil has become a
harder target for the extremist network, thanks to worldwide
counterterror efforts since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Among the key findings of the classified estimate, which is still in
draft form and must be approved by all 16 U.S. spy agencies:
- The U.S. will face "a persistent and evolving terrorist threat" within
its borders over the next three years. The main danger comes from
Islamic terrorist groups, especially al-Qaida, and is "driven by the
undiminished intent to attack the homeland and a continued effort by
terrorist groups to adapt and improve their capabilities."
- Al-Qaida is probably still pursuing chemical, biological or nuclear
weapons and would use them if its operatives developed sufficient
capability.
- The terror group has been able to restore three of the four key tools
it would need to launch an attack on U.S. soil: a safe haven in
Pakistan's tribal areas, operational lieutenants and senior leaders. It
could not immediately be learned what the missing fourth element is.
- The group will bolster its efforts to position operatives inside U.S.
borders. In public statements, U.S. officials have expressed concern
about the ease with which people can enter the United States through
Europe because of a program that allows most Europeans to enter without
visas.
The document also discusses increasing concern about individuals already
inside the United States who are adopting an extremist brand of Islam.
On a positive note, analysts concluded that increased international
efforts over the past five years "have constrained the ability of
al-Qaida to attack the U.S. homeland again and have led terrorist groups
to perceive the homeland as a harder target to strike than on 9/11."
Those measures helped disrupt known plots against the United States, the
analysts found.
National Intelligence Estimates are the most authoritative written
judgments that reflect the consensus long-term thinking of senior
intelligence analysts.
Government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
report has not been finalized, described it as an expansive look at
potential threats within the United States and said it required the
cooperation of a number of national security agencies, including the
CIA, FBI, Homeland Security Department and National Counterterrorism Center.
National security officials met at the White House on Thursday about the
intelligence estimate and related counterterrorism issues. The tentative
plan is to release a declassified version of the report and brief
Congress on Tuesday, one government official said.
Ross Feinstein, spokesman for National Intelligence Director Mike
McConnell, declined to discuss the document's specific contents. But he
said it would be consistent with statements made by senior government
officials at congressional hearings and elsewhere.
The estimate echoes the findings of another analysis prepared by the
National Counterterrorism Center earlier this year and disclosed
publicly on Wednesday. That report - titled "Al-Qaida better positioned
to strike the West" - found the terrorist group is "considerably
operationally stronger than a year ago" and has "regrouped to an extent
not seen since 2001," a counterterrorism official familiar with the
reports findings told the AP.
On Thursday, news of the counterterrorism center's threat assessment
renewed the political debate about the nature of the al-Qaida threat and
whether U.S. actions - in Iraq in particular - have made the U.S. safer
from terrorism.
At a news conference Thursday, President Bush acknowledged al-Qaida's
continuing threat to the United States and used the new report as
evidence his administration's policies are on the right course.
"The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones
who attacked us in America on Sept. 11," he said. "That's why what
happens in Iraq matters to security here at home."
Yet Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.,
said Iraq has distracted the United States. He said the U.S. should have
finished off al-Qaida in 2002 and 2003 along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Instead, "President Bush chose to invade Iraq, thereby diverting our
military and intelligence resources away from the real war on
terrorism," Rockefeller said. "Threats to the United States homeland are
not emanating from Iraq. They are coming from al-Qaida leadership."
Rockefeller, who voted in favor of toppling Saddam Hussein, called for
the U.S. to end its involvement in what he called the Iraqi civil war.
In recent weeks, senior national security officials have been
increasingly worried about an al-Qaida attack in the United States.
Appearing on a half-dozen morning TV shows Thursday, Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff laid out a list of factors contributing to
his "gut feeling" that the nation faces a higher risk of attack this
summer: al-Qaida's increased freedom to train in South Asia, a flurry of
public statements from the network's leadership, a history of summertime
attacks, a broader range of attacks in North Africa and Europe and
homegrown terrorism increasing in Europe.
"Europe could become a platform for an attack against this country,"
Chertoff told CNN, although he and others continue to say they know of
no specific, credible information pointing to an attack here.
National security officials are frustrated by an agreement last year
between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and tribal leaders in
western Pakistan, which gave tribes near the Afghan border greater
autonomy and has led to increased al-Qaida activity in the region.
Nevertheless, Bush administration officials still view Musharraf as a
partner.
Speaking to a congressional hearing, Assistant Secretary of State
Richard Boucher said that Pakistan under Musharraf has captured more
al-Qaida operatives than any other country and that several major
Taliban leaders were captured or killed this year.
"There is a considerable al-Qaida presence at the border, but they are
under pressure," Boucher told a House national security subcommittee.
Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., was skeptical, saying al-Qaida leader Osama
bin Laden and other terrorist leaders apparently feel safe there. "Is
this a Motel 6 for terrorists?" he asked.
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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Lara Jakes Jordan and Barry
Schweid contributed to this report.