Bush links Iraq war to terror fight, details Al Qaeda plots
NEW LONDON, Conn. -- President Bush said yesterday that the war in Iraq is at "a pivotal moment" and linked the conflict to a broader battle on terrorism as his administration declassified a 2005 intelligence report that described plans by Osama bin Laden's operation to attack the United States.
During a commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy, Bush outlined how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was told to plot terrorist strikes against other countries and how another top operative, Hamza Rabia, was ordered to report to Zarqawi on Al Qaeda's terrorist operations. US forces killed Zarqawi in Iraq in June.
Arguing that Al Qaeda's threats are real and continuing, Bush noted several previously reported terrorist operations that failed -- the plot foiled by British authorities to blow up passenger airplanes en route to the United States in August; the 2002 plot by Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to fly an airplane into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the tallest building on the West Coast; and, according to US intelligence, bin Laden's plans to blow up US water reservoirs, the New York Stock Exchange, and US military academies.
"With every plot they foiled, every terrorist they capture, we learn more about the enemy's plans and persistence," Bush said. "In the minds of Al Qaeda leaders, 9/11 was just a down payment on violence yet to come."
Saying that the war in Iraq is at "a pivotal moment," Bush said Al Qaeda knows that a democratic Iraq is a threat to their ambitions to impose their hateful ideology. Our security depends on helping the Iraqis succeed and defeating . . . Al Qaeda in Iraq."
The administration's decision to disclose the information prompted criticism from Democrats, who allege that the White House tends to declassify documents whenever it is politically advantageous.
But Frances Townsend, homeland security adviser, told reporters aboard Air Force One that the administration waited to make sure it had "gotten through all the leads" and that releasing the information would not compromise intelligence.
"Frankly, if political advantage was the name of the game, we would have gotten it a lot sooner," she said. "It's a matter of bringing all the intelligence sources and methods together . . . and give the intelligence community time to exploit all that."
Bush made his remarks in a picture-perfect setting, but the message was sober. Referring to the "surge" of US troops sent to Iraq , Bush said, "There are many destructive forces in Iraq trying to stop this strategy from succeeding. The most destructive is Al Qaeda." 