US official contradicts Bush on al-Qaeda threat

The competing characterisations of al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq—and the extent to which the issue dominated a congressional hearing on Wednesday—again underscored the role of intelligence assessments in shaping the political debate over the war.

Testifying before the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees, Edward Gistaro, the US’s top analyst for transnational threats, said the US intelligence community’s “primary concern” is the al-Qaeda in South Asia, which he said is “organising its own plots” against the US.

A top US general in Afghanistan told Pentagon reporters in a video teleconference that the number of al-Qaeda foot soldiers travelling to South Asia has increased up to 60 per cent over the past year.

Gistaro, who was the principal author of a recent national intelligence study on threats to America, however, noted that al-Qaeda in Iraq—or “AQI” as the group is known in US intelligence circles—has “expressed an interest” in launching attacks against the US. But he said 90 per cent of the members of the group are Iraqis who joined al-Qaeda’s organisation there subsequent to the US invasion. He estimated the group’s strength at “several thousand” members and said that “the bulk of AQI’s resources are focused on the battle inside of Iraq”