US intelligence report warns al-Qaeda has regained strength
UNITED STATES: U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al-Qada
has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just
before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press has learned.
The conclusion suggests that the network that launched the most
devastating terror attack on the United States has been able to regroup
along the Afghan-Pakistani border despite nearly six years of bombings,
war and other tactics aimed at crippling it.
Still, numerous government officials say they know of no specific,
credible threat of a new attack on U.S. soil.
A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the
new government threat assessment called it a stark appraisal to be
discussed at the White House as part of a broader meeting on an upcoming
National Intelligence Estimate.
The official and others spoke on condition of anonymity because the
secret report remains classified.
Counterterrorism analysts produced the document, titled "Al-Qaieda
better positioned to strike the West." The document focuses on the
terror group's safe haven in Pakistan and makes a range of observations
about the threat posed to the United States and its allies, officials
said.
Al-Qaeda is "considerably operationally stronger than a year ago" and
has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001," the official said,
paraphrasing the report's conclusions. "They are showing greater and
greater ability to plan attacks in Europe and the United States."
The group also has created "the most robust training program since
2001, with an interest in using European operatives," the official
quoted the report as saying. At the same time, this official said, the
report speaks of "significant gaps in intelligence" so U.S. authorities
may be ignorant of potential or planned attacks.
John Kringen, who heads the CIA's analysis directorate, echoed the
concerns about al-Qaieda's resurgence during testimony and conversations
with reporters at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday.
"They seem to be fairly well settled into the safe haven and the
ungoverned spaces of Pakistan," Kringen testified. "We see more
training. We see more money. We see more communications. We see that
activity rising."
The threat assessment comes as the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies
prepare a National Intelligence Estimate focusing on threats to the
United States. A senior intelligence official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity while the high-level analysis was being finalized, said the
document has been in the works for roughly two years.
Counterterrorism officials have been increasingly concerned about al-Qaida's
recent operations. This week, Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff said he had a "gut feeling" that the United States faced a
heightened risk of attack this summer.
Several European countries - among them Britain, Denmark, Germany and
the Netherlands - are also highlighted in the threat assessment partly
because they have arrangements with the Pakistani government that allow
their citizens easier access to Pakistan than others, according to the
counterterrorism official.
Meanwhile the U.S. military expects al Qaeda in Iraq to strike back
with "spectacular attacks" after major U.S.-led offensives that have
disrupted its activities, a military spokesman said.
Brigadier-General Kevin Bergner said 26 leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq
had been killed or captured in operations in May and June across the
country.
"Over the past two months our collective efforts against the al Qaeda
leadership have begun to disrupt their networks and safe havens,"
Bergner told a news conference.
"We fully expect al Qaeda in Iraq operatives to lash out and stage
spectacular attacks to reassert themselves."
Washington, Baghdad, Thursday, AP, Reuters |
