On Jul 11, 6:17?pm, jps wrote:
In article . com,
says...

CAN YOU MULES GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO TALK ABOUT THE MORON'S YOU WONT
VOTE OUT OF OFFICE...............................

Sure, but let's take a moment for this word from our sponsors...

Intelligence report: Al-Qaida has regained strength
By Katherine Shrader and Matthew Lee, Associated Press

Intelligence report: Al-Qaida has regained strength

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al-Qaida has
rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press has learned.
The conclusion suggests that the group that launched the most
devastating terror attack on the United States has been able to regroup
along the Afghan-Pakistani border despite nearly six years of bombings,
war and other tactics aimed at crippling it.

Still, numerous government officials say they know of no specific,
credible threat of a new attack on U.S. soil.

A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the new
government threat assessment called it a stark appraisal to be discussed
at the White House on Thursday as part of a broader meeting on an
upcoming National Intelligence Estimate.

The official and others spoke on condition of anonymity because the
secret report remains classified.

Counterterrorism analysts produced the document, titled "Al-Qaida better
positioned to strike the West." The document focuses on the terror
group's safe haven in Pakistan and makes a range of observations about
the threat posed to the United States and its allies, officials said.

Al-Qaida is "considerably operationally stronger than a year ago" and
has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001," the official said,
paraphrasing the report's conclusions. "They are showing greater and
greater ability to plan attacks in Europe and the United States."

The group also has created "the most robust training program since 2001,
with an interest in using European operatives," the official quoted the
report as saying.

At the same time, this official said, the report speaks of "significant
gaps in intelligence" so U.S. authorities may be ignorant of potential
or planned attacks.

John Kringen, who heads the CIA's analysis directorate, echoed the
concerns about al-Qaida's resurgence during testimony and conversations
with reporters at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday.

"They seem to be fairly well settled into the safe haven and the
ungoverned spaces of Pakistan," Kringen testified. "We see more
training. We see more money. We see more communications. We see that
activity rising."

The threat assessment comes as the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies prepare
a National Intelligence Estimate focusing on threats to the United
States. A senior intelligence official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity while the high-level analysis was being finalized, said the
document has been in the works for roughly two years.

Kringen and aides to National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell would
not comment on the details of that analysis. "Preparation of the
estimate is not a response to any specific threat," McConnell's
spokesman Ross Feinstein said, adding that it would be ready for
distribution this summer.

Counterterrorism officials have been increasingly concerned about al-
Qaida's recent operations. This week, Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff said he had a "gut feeling" that the United States
faced a heightened risk of attack this summer.

Kringen said he wouldn't attach a summer time frame to the concern. In
studying the threat, he said he begins with the premise that al-Qaida
would consider attacking the U.S. a "home run hit" and that the easiest
way to get into the United States would be through Europe.

The new threat assessment puts particular focus on Pakistan, as did
Kringen.

"Sooner or later you have to quit permitting them to have a safe haven"
along the Afghan-Pakistani border, he told the House committee. "At the
end of the day, when we have had success, it is when you've been able to
get them worried about who was informing on them, get them worried about
who was coming after them."

Several European countries - among them Britain, Denmark, Germany and
the Netherlands - are also highlighted in the threat assessment partly
because they have arrangements with the Pakistani government that allow
their citizens easier access to Pakistan than others, according to the
counterterrorism official.

Are you really this determined to steer the NG back into the toilet?