Iraq breeds terrorists...? Ya THINK...? [UPDATE]

well, golllleeee... on july 7, i posted that condi, in an interview with the bbc, pooh-pooh'd the notion that iraq was pumping out terrorists...

BEALE: Do you think that Britain and America in Iraq are perhaps fighting the wrong war? They went to war to remove physical weapons of mass destruction but partly Saddam Hussein as well, but that hasn’t stopped the terrorist attacks in Western cities like Madrid, in London today. It seems to have fueled those attacks.

RICE: Oh, I don’t think that anything is being fueled here except the fact that the terrorists are finally being confronted.

now, on july 18, a respected u.k. think tank begs to differ (at least insofar as the u.k. is concerned)...

Britain's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the terrorist attacks in London, a respected independent thinktank on foreign affairs, the Chatham House organisation, says today.

[...]

In the most politically sensitive finding, Chatham House, which used to be known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, concludes there is "no doubt" the invasion of Iraq has "given a boost to the al-Qaida network" in "propaganda, recruitment and fundraising", while providing an ideal targeting and training area for terrorists. "Riding pillion* with a powerful ally has proved costly in terms of British and US military lives, Iraqi lives, military expenditure and the damage caused to the counter-terrorism campaign."

~duh~

*pil·lion
Pronunciation: 'pil-y&n
Function: noun
Etymology: ScGaelic or Irish; Scottish Gaelic pillean, diminutive of peall covering, couch; Irish pillín, diminutive of peall covering, couch
1 a : a light saddle for women consisting chiefly of a cushion b : a pad or cushion put on behind a man's saddle chiefly for a woman to ride on
2 chiefly British : a motorcycle or bicycle saddle for a passenger

[UPDATE]

more confirmation (like we don't have enough already!)...

"The president is right that Iraq is a main front in the war on terrorism, but this is a front we created," said Peter Bergen, a terrorism specialist at the nonpartisan New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.

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