The White House acknowledged Monday that Iraq was among several factors that fuel the spread of extremism, but said that winning the war there would lessen the number of potential terrorists. Spokesman Tony Snow challenged news reports on Sunday about the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq and terrorism, which represents the consensus of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. It assesses that a variety of factors, in addition to Iraq, fuel the spread of extremism, including longstanding social grievances, slowness of the pace of reform, and the use of the internet, Snow told reporters. It also notes that should extremists be perceived to have failed in Iraq, fewer will be inspired to carry on the fight, Snow said in Greenwich, Connecticut, where President George W. Bush was attending a political fundraiser. On Sunday, the New York Times quoted an official familiar with the report as saying that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse. Sunday s Washington Post said the report described the Iraq conflict as the primary recruiting vehicle for violent extremists. Bush has been saying that the Iraq war made Americans safer as he campaigns ahead of November 7 congressional elections, in which the unpopular war may cost his Republican Party control of one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress. While the United States has seriously damaged al Qaida, radical networks have spread and decentralized, the NIE reportedly said. Snow said the media reports on the NIE contain nothing that the president hasn t said. Meanwhile, senior Bush advisor Dan Bartlett told CNN that the NIE doesn t make any final judgments to say that America is less safe or not because of this. It s just saying that they use this to use as a recruitment tool. Appearing on Fox News, he said the war in Iraq was only the latest grievance exploited by extremists to recruit followers.
