Bush defies intel agents, labels al-Qaida 'the main enemy' in Iraq

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...-iraq0629.html

(Gold9472: Have insurgents morphed into "Al-Qaeda?" If 9/11 wasn't orchestrated, fascilitated or allowed by this Administration, considering how they have used it as if it was, I would be friggin' astonished.)

McClatchy Newspapers
Jun. 29, 2007 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - Facing eroding support for his Iraq policy, even among Republicans, President Bush on Thursday called al-Qaida "the main enemy" in Iraq, an assertion rejected by his administration's senior intelligence analysts.

The reference, in a major speech at the Naval War College that referred to al-Qaida at least 27 times, seemed calculated to use lingering outrage over the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to bolster support for the current buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq, despite evidence that sending more troops hasn't reduced the violence or sped Iraqi government action on key issues.

Bush called al-Qaida in Iraq the perpetrator of the worst violence racking that country and said it was the same group that had carried out the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

"Al-Qaida is the main enemy for Shia, Sunni and Kurds alike," Bush asserted.

"Al-Qaida's responsible for the most sensational killings in Iraq. They're responsible for the sensational killings on U.S. soil."

U.S. military and intelligence officials, however, say that Iraqis with ties to al-Qaida are only a small fraction of the threat to American troops.