NIE: Cut-And-Run Aparently Not The Solution

Apparently the classified National Intelligence Estimate that the New York Times somehow obtained and selectively leaked does, in fact, not support the Times assertion that the War in Iraq has worsened terrorism and made America less safe.

After leaking parts of the document to create the illusion that the government believed the War in Iraq to have been a dangerous and colossal failure, the Bush administration called the Times on it and declassified sections of the document that appear to give an entirely different view. You can read the whole of the declassified sections of the document here (hat tip: Hugh Hewitt ).

If you're too lazy to read the whole thing, here are some excerpts:

The original NYTimes story:

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,'' it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

Declassified sections of NIE:

United States-led counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged the leadership of al-Qa'ida and disrupted its operations; however, we judge that al-Qaida will continue to pose the greatest threat to the Homeland and US interests abroad by a single terrorist organization.

It is just pathetic how selectively the NYTimes leaked this report. It would have been bad enough if they were just leaking classified government documents, as usual, but to only leak parts of it to completely change its meaning? That is just pathetic and deceptive.

Another good quote from the NIE:

If democratic reform efforts in Muslim majority nations progress over the next five years, political participation probably would drive a wedge between intransigent extremists and groups willing to use the political process to achieve their local objectives.

That doesn't make it sound like we should cut-and-run, does it? Neither does this:

Should jihadists leaving Iraq percieve themselves, and be percieved, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight.

I wonder how long until we have to listen to liberal theories about how Carl Rove leaked the report to make the media look bad? Remember, he was the one who sent CBS blatantly false documents saying GW went AWOL from the National Guard (because that would be so helpful to his campaign...)

***Update, 11:58am***

Video of Karzai and GW handing the liberal media their own asses over at Hot Air. Great viedo.