Israeli Study Says the Iraq War a Distraction from War on Terror

[D2bets]

<!--StartFragment -->Think Tank: Iraq War Distracted U.S.
By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer

TEL AVIV, Israel - The war in Iraq did not damage international terror groups, but instead distracted the United States from confronting other hotbeds of Islamic militancy and actually "created momentum" for many terrorists, a top Israeli security think tank said in a report released Monday.

President Bush has called the war in Iraq an integral part of the war on terrorism, saying that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hoped to develop unconventional weapons and could have given them to Islamic militants across the world.

But the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said that instead of striking a blow against Islamic extremists, the Iraq war "has created momentum for many terrorist elements, but chiefly al-Qaida and its affiliates."

Jaffee Center director Shai Feldman said the vast amount of money and effort the United States has poured into Iraq has deflected attention and assets from other centers of terrorism, such as Afghanistan.

The concentration of U.S. intelligence assets in Iraq "has to be at the expense of being able to follow strategic dangers in other parts of the world," he said.

Shlomo Brom, a retired Israeli army general, said the U.S.-led effort was strategically misdirected. If the goal in the war against terrorism is "not just to kill the mosquitos but to dry the swamp," he said, "now it's quite clear" that Iraq "is not the swamp."

Instead, he said, the Iraq campaign is having the opposite effect, drawing Islamic extremists from other parts of the world to join the battle.

"On a strategic level as well as an operational level," Brom concluded, "the war in Iraq is hurting the war on international terrorism."

In other findings, Jaffee Center experts disagreed with the Israeli government's statements that its four-year struggle against Palestinian militants is part of the world fight against Islamic terrorism.

Yoram Schweitzer, who wrote the chapter about the Iraq war, said the local conflict is a "national struggle," while international Islamic militant groups like al-Qaida target not only Israel but also the entire Western world.

After interviewing Palestinian militants, including some in prison, Schweitzer said they do not consider themselves part of the al-Qaida campaign. "Many of them are critical of Al-Qaida and its methods," he told a news conference.

The Jaffee report found that Israel has succeeded in reducing Palestinian violence against Israelis.

Feldman said the motivation of Palestinian militants to attack the country remained unchanged, but praised the work of military intelligence in preventing many attacks.

"The only reason these (anti-terror) operations succeed is that we have better intelligence," he said.

Feldman said the weekend attacks in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula aimed at places where Israelis gather did not figure in to the assessment. Thirteen Israelis were among at least 34 people killed in two car bomb attacks Thursday.

"We regard the attacks in the Sinai in a different category," he said, likening it to an attack at a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, last year that killed 10, including three Israelis.

The report includes statistical breakdowns of the military forces and their capabilities in the Middle East, as well as analyses of regional issues.

 

[American]

When is someone going to do a "study" on the liberal media and unrelenting attempts to manipulate the American people with misleading headlines, spun "reports" and "studies" like the one mentioned here, and the media taking ANY pro-lib piece it can gets it's hands on and running with it.

 

[American]

<!--StartFragment -->Think Tank: Iraq War Distracted U.S.
By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer

The Jaffee report found that Israel has succeeded in reducing Palestinian violence against Israelis.

Feldman said the motivation of Palestinian militants to attack the country remained unchanged, but praised the work of military intelligence in preventing many attacks.

"The only reason these (anti-terror) operations succeed is that we have better intelligence," he said.

QUOTE]

That's nice that they pat themselves on the back for their efforts. The U.S. must be doing something right too, because there hasn't been an attack in the U.S. since 9/11, and American intelligence has foiled it's share of plots as well. Too bad that didn't find it's way into the "STUDY".

 

[D2bets]

What the f*ck does this have to do with the liberal media??? I see you've managed to ignore and not address the direct claims of this study. Are you researching how to attack this messenger? Surely they musty be biased, right? Nobody witout a bias would ever criticize Bush policy.


OPEN UP YOUR EYES MAN.

By the way, this isn't even a big story that I've seen anywhere. I was searching around and I dug this up. This *should* be making headlines, but it doesn't seem to be.

 

[American]

What's the point of the "STUDY"? That The U.S. isn't serving Israel's best interests for once?

As far as the resistence in Iraq goes, we're trying to subdue insurgents who lost power when Saddam went down. There were a lot of scumbags connected to the waist with Saddam, and when he went down, they went down. There are many old scores to be settled. They are fighting because they have to.

BTW, my local liberal Orlando Sentinel ran that **** piece yesterday in the international news section.

 

[D2bets]

American, you (and of course Bush) simply don't want to hear anything that doesn't fit within the course Bush has taken. It doesn't matter if it's true, doesn't matter of makes sense, doesn't matter who says it, doesn't matter what the eveidence shows, doesn't matter. You just don't want to hear of it.

This is not a mature attitude. It's no big deal when you or I have that attitude, but it is a bid deal when it is basically official U.S. policy. A complete lack of introspection and an utter inability to admit one is wrong is incredibly dangerous.

 

[American]

What the f*ck does this have to do with the liberal media???
QUOTE]

Any "STUDY" that has findings that support the LIBS side gets media coverage. That's why I brought it up. A couple of geniouses gather around at Jaffe University and talk amongst themselves a little bit, and then come up with a report that's embraced as some universal altruistic 20/20 view of what's going on in the world. That's copy not worthy of wrapping a fish.

 

[D2bets]

And you would rather not hear of any of this because even if it is in fact the truth you simply do not want to hear it and do not want to acknowledge it. What kind of backassward thinking is that!? You are so convinved of your righteousness that nobody and nothing could possibly convince you otherwise in this lifetime.

*When I say 'you', I mean George W. Bush and those who follow him lockstep.

And by the way, this is at least 4 or 5 studies at this point that has come to the same basic conclusion. But they;re all wrong of course. They all must be biased.

 

[American]

American, you (and of course Bush) simply don't want to hear anything that doesn't fit within the course Bush has taken. It doesn't matter if it's true, doesn't matter of makes sense, doesn't matter who says it, doesn't matter what the eveidence shows, doesn't matter. You just don't want to hear of it.
QUOTE]

It has EVERYTHING to do with who says it and what the facts are. That's where the spin comes in. One can lie with facts as easily as one can lie with mistruths.

I'll tell something that is true. Hitler was good to his dogs. If that's the only thing I tell you about Hitler, and you didn't know anything else about him, you get the impression that Hitler must have been a decent guy.

D2bets, I have a question for you. Do you believe that the media is unbiased in it's coverage and the stories it decides to run?

 

[D2bets]

Why should I answer your question when you refuse to address the substance of this study. This study was not done by the liberal American media. Pretend for a moment that the media did not report this, but instead I found the study somehow and posted it here. Take the media BS out of it. Why can't you deal with the substance of what is here rather than talking is media conspiracy theories?

I'll be a bigger man and answer, yes, some media exhibit some biases in reporting. However, neither party nor view has the market cornered on such biases.

That's all I'll say here about the media. This isn't about the media, this is about the substance of this study and it's findings. But you refuse to address it or concede that it may have some merit.

 

[American]

I did address the content. I mentioned how the anti-terror efforts in the U.S. were disregarded by those brilliant unbiased men of academia in Jaffe. Or maybe they were mentioned, but the American media edited that part of the report out. We'll never know unless we get the whole, complete report. There's an assignment for you. Now that I've brought it up, I'd like to know if the report said anything about there being no attacks on American soil since 9/11.

My point is that the media doesn't present ALL the facts. It presents the facts that it feels you should know. That is subjective in nature and HAS to lead to bias and value judgements. When an off-the-wall report like the one we're discussing gets thrown in front of me, the first thing I want to know is who are the ones making the report and where are they coming from. There is some truth, I believe in what I read of this report, but there was also some nationalistic back-patting that is easily noticed too, and that is a bias that can't be ignored.

I still say not worthy of wrapping fish.

I'm out for the afternoon, have a good day, nice chatting with you.

 

[GAMEFACE]

American,

Save your energy, they're clueless if they believe the media levels with the people. It's all negative Bush and America.

 

[xpanda]

D2bets, I have a question for you. Do you believe that the media is unbiased in it's coverage and the stories it decides to run?

Okay, so this wasn't directed at me, but I'd like to address it, if I may. Your 'liberal' media in the US shows 80% of all media ownership now in the hands of 6 individuals or corporations.

Rupert Murdoch, who owns News Corporation (who owns Fox News and the Weekly Standard, for example), is a die-hard right-winger. He supports the Republican party.

NBC is owned by General Electric, with a long history of anti-union activity. GE is a major contributor to the Republican Party, has substantial financial interests in weapons manufacturing finance, nuclear power and many other industries. Former CEO Jack Welch was one of the leaders in shutting down American plants and moving them to low-wage countries like China and Mexico.

ABC is owned by Disney Corp, not exactly known for their pro-labour, pro-human rights practices in their overseas production and manufacturing sectors.

CNN is owned by AOL/Time Warner, who have made equal contributions to Dems and Repubs alike during this past race.

So, just because a high proportion of journalists vote Democrat, does not make the news Liberal. In the first place, the Democrat position isn't really liberal, despite Bush's best efforts to paint Kerry as such. Second of all, the decision to air or not to air certain newsbits comes from higher up, not from the anchormen and women. It starts at the top and trickles down.

The American media is not liberal. They are hopped up on ratings, not political motivation, and pander to the lowest common denominator -- the attention deficit, sound-bite requiring typical *******.

Read independent media, regardless of the side of the spectrum in which you reside.

 

[Meanstreak]

"independent media"

Now that's a good one.

All media is essentially part of the same people eating machine. Independent means "principled until we have enough readership to get corporate sponsorship."

How about turning the TV off, dropping the newspaper and taking a look outside your front door.

Peace.

 

[American]

So, just because a high proportion of journalists vote Democrat, does not make the news Liberal. QUOTE]

Yes, it does. That's precisely what gives the news such a liberal spin.