Iraq War Swells Al Qaeda's Ranks, Report Says: "'On the plus side, war in Iraq has denied al Qaeda a potential supplier of weapons of mass destruction and discouraged state sponsors of terrorism from continuing to support it,' the report said. 'On the minus side, war in Iraq has probably inflamed radical passions among Muslims and thus increased al Qaeda's recruiting power and morale and, at least marginally, its operating capability,' it said. 'The immediate effect of the war may have been to isolate further al Qaeda from any potential state supporters while also swelling its ranks and galvanizing its will.'"

Given that there has never been any convincing evidence that Saddam's Iraq sponsored or supplied weapons to al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, this is an odd way of expressing conclusions. But it can be taken to mean that even organisations aligned with the Western polical and military elite have been forced to admit the obvious, that the 'war on terror' (ie, the invasion of Iraq) has done nothing but increase anti-American sentiment and al-Qaeda recruiting, which can be expected to result in increased terrorist attacks in the future.

Iraq War Swells Al Qaeda's Ranks, Report Says: "'On the plus side, war in Iraq has denied al Qaeda a potential supplier of weapons of mass destruction and discouraged state sponsors of terrorism from continuing to support it,' the report said. 'On the minus side, war in Iraq has probably inflamed radical passions among Muslims and thus increased al Qaeda's recruiting power and morale and, at least marginally, its operating capability,' it said. 'The immediate effect of the war may have been to isolate further al Qaeda from any potential state supporters while also swelling its ranks and galvanizing its will.'"

Given that there has never been any convincing evidence that Saddam's Iraq sponsored or supplied weapons to al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, this is an odd way of expressing conclusions. But it can be taken to mean that even organisations aligned with the Western polical and military elite have been forced to admit the obvious, that the 'war on terror' (ie, the invasion of Iraq) has done nothing but increase anti-American sentiment and al-Qaeda recruiting, which can be expected to result in increased terrorist attacks in the future.