[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18716]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT ON AL-QAIDA

  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, the new intelligence assessment is a 
chilling reminder that the American people are less secure than we were 
on 9/11. According to press reports of the assessment, al-Qaida has 
reconstituted, rebuilt its training and command and control 
capabilities, and is better positioned to strike the West. Meanwhile, 
Osama bin Laden and his top deputy are still on the loose.
  If America is again attacked, it will be in no small measure a 
consequence of the Bush administration's failure to destroy al-Qaida at 
its roots in Afghanistan and to adequately secure the homeland. The 
decision to authorize and fight a misguided war in Iraq also created a 
new cadre of experienced terrorists bent on the destruction of the 
United States and our allies. The recent attacks in Britain are likely 
only the beginning of an Iraqi ``blowback,'' which may haunt us for 
years to come. Since we invaded Iraq, the number of Islamic extremist 
terrorist attacks--excluding those in Iraq and Afghanistan--has risen 
by 35 percent worldwide.
  We cannot win a war against the terrorists if we are on the wrong 
battlefield. America must urgently begin redeploying from Iraq and take 
the fight more effectively to the enemy's home by destroying al-Qaida's 
leadership along the Afghan-Pakistan border, eliminating their command 
and control networks, and disrupting their funding. To counter their 
ability to rebuild these capabilities, we must convince Pakistan to 
pursue an effective strategy, with our assistance, to deny the 
terrorists sanctuary in Pakistan's northwest territories. We must also 
finish the job and secure Afghanistan, where the Taliban is resurgent.
  But it will take more than force to defeat this threat. It will take 
wisdom and patience to restore America's credibility in the Muslim 
world and reduce both passive and active support for extremists. We 
need to partner with the vast majority of Muslims in their struggle 
against those who would distort their religion, create oppressive 
theocracies, and kill innocents. We must demonstrate through action, 
not mere words, that America is not at war with Islam, and that we will 
stand with those Muslims who seek a better future.
  Abu Ghraib served as a recruiting poster for violent Islamic 
extremists. Guantanamo has diminished America's standing in the Muslim 
world and with our closest allies. The needless violation of our civil 
liberties at home has damaged our moral authority abroad. All these 
actions have undercut our fight against terrorists. This is not 
America, this is not who we are. We must close Guantanamo, renounce 
torture, and respect the rule of law to be faithful to our own values, 
prosecute the war on terrorism more effectively, and begin to engender 
renewed admiration for America in the Muslim world. American values and 
liberties must be seen as a source of our strength, not as a liability, 
in the fight against terrorism.
  Finally, we must take many long-overdue steps to better secure our 
homeland. We need to lock down loose nuclear material around the world, 
upgrade port, transport and chemical plant security, allocate homeland 
security dollars according to risk, and give local law enforcement the 
resources and intelligence support to help prevent rather than simply 
respond to terrorist attacks.
  The administration argues this intelligence assessment proves its 
case for doing more of the same. On the contrary, the American people 
cannot afford more of the same. This intelligence assessment reminds us 
once again of the consequences of the decision to authorize and fight 
the war in Iraq, and to direct our resources away from the wider war on 
terrorism that was yet to be won. It underscores the urgent need for a 
new, more effective counterterrorism strategy at home and abroad.

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