Bush, Chertoff Seek To Discredit Their Own Intelligence, Claim al Qaeda Is ˜Weaker

Today, the National Intelligence Council of the Bush administration will release a report entitled “Al Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West,” concluding that the “network is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and planning attacks…despite concerted U.S. attempts to smash the network.”

But this morning, both President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff attempted to play down the intelligence report. “I wouldn’t put it [the threat] at that level — in my own opinion,” said Chertoff. Bush claimed:

There is a perception in the coverage that al Qaeda may be as strong today as they were prior to September 11th. That’s simply not the case…because of the actions we’ve taken, al Qaeda is weaker today than they would have been.

Watch it:

Bush’s attempts to downplay the administration’s own intelligence is nothing new. Intelligence reports warned both before and during the war that invading Iraq would serve as a rallying cry for terrorist and extremist organizations.

Chertoff’s attempts to spin the resurgence of al Qaeda is a quick reversal on his part, as just a few days ago, he reported a “gut feeling” that there would be an al Qaeda strike on the U.S. as soon as this summer.

Some Bush administration officials recently conceded that they overestimated the damage done to al Qaeda since 2001. Unfortunately, the President and his top advisers stubbornly refuse to do the same.

Mimikatz has more.

Transcript:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Are we facing the same level of threat we faced in the summer of 2001?CHERTOFF: I wouldn’t put it at that level — again, this is my own opinion — because I so think we’ve accomplished an awful lot in dismantling their activities overseas and in building our own defenses.

…

REPORTER: The intelligence analysts are saying al Qaeda has reconstituted in areas of Pakistan, saying a threat to the West is greater than ever now, greater than 2001. What’s happened?

BUSH: There is a perception in the coverage that al Qaeda may be as strong today as they were prior to September 11th. That’s simply not the case. I think the report will say since 2001, not prior to September 11, 2001. Secondly, that because of the actions we’ve taken, al Qaeda is weaker today than they would have been.