Monday, May 28, 2007

More evidence that the Iraq problems were well known in advance

The new report, just released, on the CIA warnings about the problems of going into Iraq, provides one more piece of evidence of what we already knew, that the Bush administration was warned that the plans to invade Iraq would be costly and draw insurgent groups such as Al Qaeda into the area, compounding the problems in the Middle East. Some Republican Senators have tried to downplay the report, forgetting that even "W"'s father, George H. W. Bush, had already predicted serious complications if in his time American forces had gone after Saddam Hussein. Even so, this will surprise some people.

The Iraq Problems were Anticipated. [Friday May 25, 2007 10:16 PM]

By KATHERINE SHRADER Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Intelligence analysts predicted, in secret papers circulated within the government before the Iraq invasion, that al-Qaida would see U.S. military action as an opportunity to increase its operations and that Iran would try to shape a post-Saddam Iraq.

The CIA report said
- Establishing a stable democracy in Iraq would be a long, steep and probably turbulent challenge.

- Al-Qaida would see the invasion as a chance to accelerate its attacks, and the lines between al-Qaida and other terrorist groups ``could become blurred.''

For more, click on the title above.

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