Islamic extremists are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new anti-U.S. jihadists, These jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced and focused on acts of urban terrorism. They represent a potential pool of contacts to build transnational terrorist cells, groups and networks in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries.
The Washington Post words it very gently, saying this is one of the "unintended consequences of the war in Iraq." An article from Inter-Press Service emphasizes something liberals have been saying since well before the Iraq War (This particular piece is about the accusation that Saddam Hussein tried to have the elder George Bush killed):
Saddam, according to the report, was convinced that the CIA had thoroughly penetrated his regime and thus would know not only that he had dismantled his WMD (which the CIA apparently did not), but also would know about his plans for important intelligence operations.
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The report even concluded that Iraq was willing to be Washington's ''best friend in the region bar none''.
The fact that the U.S., under Bush Sr. and Clinton, did not show interest was apparently a source of bewilderment to the Iraqi leader, according to the Duelfer report.
In other words, the Hussein regime had nothing to do with terrorism. Porter Goss is entirely correct in saying that terrorism from Iraq is now, currently, at this moment, a serious problem. What's clear is that this became a problem only upon the US invasion of that country.
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