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| Sunday, 27 June 2004 |
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Iraq war was a huge gift to bin Laden CIA analysts say WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) The U.S.-led war against Iraq was a huge gift to Osama bin Laden in his drive to incite Muslim extremists to attack the United States, a CIA analyst said on Friday. And if the White House was not told that before the war, it was an intelligence failure, said the analyst in the CIA's Counterterrorist Center, who once led the unit that tracked bin Laden. The unnamed analyst has written a book called "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror." It was signed "Anonymous" and is due out July 15. He said he did not write the book to criticize Democrats or Republicans but wanted to tell the public that U.S. policies, not a hatred of the American way of life, were fueling anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world. "The last two administrations have consistently said that bin Laden and his ilk are out to rob our liberties and freedoms and democracy. And in fact that has nothing to do with what they're after," said the analyst, whose first name Mike was disclosed by others. "They are fighting us because of our policies and they are becoming stronger and more violent because our policies are so vastly unpopular in the Islamic world," he said. In his book, he wrote policies that generate such anger in the Muslim world include U.S. support for Israel, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, support for Russia, India, and China against their Muslim militants, and U.S. pressure on Arab energy producers to keep oil prices low. He said he was not an Iraq expert so would leave discussion about the perceived prewar threat from Baghdad to others. "What I would argue from the bin Laden perspective was that it (the Iraq invasion) was a gift of unprecedented dimensions to Osama bin Laden," Mike told Reuters in a telephone interview. He said it was a failure on the part of the intelligence community if it did not go to the president and say that invading Iraq, with its holy places, would be seen as another affront to Muslim religious values. The U.S. military long maintained a presence in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest site. The CIA required as a condition of publication that he not use his real name, even though he is not a covert operative, Mike said. The book was reviewed by the agency, as required for employees, for classified information. He said he received neither "response nor repercussion" to the book from CIA bosses. Bin Laden has eluded capture since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks by al Qaeda on New York and Washington, and it may end up being luck that catches him. "Right now I would say it would be serendipity, if he zagged when we zigged," Mike said. "Bin Laden is in Afghanistan. He's been associated closely with all the factions in Afghanistan for almost 20 years. He is able to move with some dexterity around the country and really we have a very small force in that country," he said. He said it was unclear whether there was a bin Laden command-and-control relationship with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who U.S. forces are chasing in Iraq in connection with the violent insurgency. "But certainly what Zarqawi's doing is going in the same direction bin Laden wants to go," Mike said. And he added that another attack by bin Laden's al Qaeda against the United States was almost certain. |
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