Iraq provides terrorists with "a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills," said David B. Low, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats. "There is even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will, in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will therefore disperse to various other countries." read on
On MTP, Katty Kay said something interesting:
MS. KAY: There was one indication of perhaps the length of the mission this week when the Iraqi intelligence minister came out and said there was actually some 400,000 Iraqi insurgents of which 40,000 were full-time call, but then you had a whole run more. If you think that Britain, when we were fighting in Northern Ireland, the English, we were fighting against perhaps 300 or 400 active insurgents. Well, that insurgency went on for 30 years. It's some indication of what insurgents can do for a long time when they are in these particular numbers.
It's scary to think about the amount of insurgents that are increasing and our troops are like ducks in a shooting gallery. The road from Bagdad to the airport can't even be secured.
Now: Attackers seize 15 Iraqi guardsmen from bus
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Attackers fired on a bus carrying Iraqi national guard members west of Baghdad on Friday, kidnapping 15 guardsmen and leaving the bus in flames, a guard official said.
Witnesses said attackers opened fire — apparently with rocket-propelled grenades — as the guard members were heading to a local U.S. military headquarters. The attack happened near Baghdadi, about 90 miles west of the capital.
