Commentary on NIE Report... (How the Iraq War fuels Terrorism)

The National Intelligence Estimate's conclusion that the war in Iraq is "a cause celebre for jihadists" and "breeds a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world..." is the intelligence equivalent of the little boy who pointed out that the emperor had no clothes. The NIE accepts something that neither President Bush nor his close ally Tony Blair have acknowledged - that Iraq has fuelled international Islamic terrorism.

The NIE, compiled from the views of all 16 US intelligence agencies, clouds the narrative that President Bush is trying to present - that Iraq was chosen by the jihadists as their "battlefield" and that it is simply a challenge that must be faced and a war that must be won.

Declassified excerpts were released in Washington on Tuesday after a report about the assessment were leaked to the New York Times and the White House came under pressure to publish its conclusions.