http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/

Sept. 25, 2006

Not safe. Not safer. Less safe.

Ron Reagan
MSNBC Political Analyst

"We are fighting them on the streets of Baghdad so we don’t have to
fight them here at home."

This has been the mantra of the Bush administration regarding an
invasion and occupation they’re pleased to lump into the category "war
on terror."

It’s usually paired with, "we’re safer but not yet safe."

In other words, we the Republicans have made you more secure through
our steadfast efforts in Iraq, but not safe enough that you should
consider voting for the "cut and run" democrats.

Now, we have word of a comprehensive national intelligence estimate
reflecting the combined assessments of all 16 U.S. intelligence
agencies that reveals both assertions to be utterly false.

If you are an Iraq War diehard, an ardent believer in "staying the
course," you now have to face the fact that the best opinion of our
government - the real opinion, not the Rose Garden spin - is that our
presence in Iraq has made us less safe, more vulnerable to terrorism.

Not safe. Not safer. Less safe.

"The Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse," is how
one Intel official summed it up.

The report says Iraq is now a training ground for terrorists and the
primary cause of a metastasizing jihadist ideology around the world.

With that, the last vestige of an excuse for this misbegotten war
evaporates.

Those who continue to support placing young American lives in danger
to support this dubious mission will now have to explain why we must
do so, not for the enhancement, but at the expense of national
security.

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Ron Reagan, ladies and gentlemen.

Harry