West fertile ground for al-Qaida, U.S. says

Wed., Feb. 6, 2008

Carol Eisenberg Newsday

CIA director admits waterboarding used

» WASHINGTON – Director Michael Hayden acknowledged Tuesday that the Central Intelligence Agency had subjected three suspected al-Qaida terrorists to waterboarding but said the tactic had not been used in almost five years.

» News reports long have cited unidentified sources in claiming the CIA had used waterboarding on suspected terrorists, but Hayden's comments before the Senate Intelligence Committee were the first time a Bush administration official publicly confirmed it. » Hayden said waterboarding had been used on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and two other terrorist suspects while they were in secret CIA custody.

They were sent to the U.S. military's detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2006.

» Hayden said the three were subjected to the technique, which involves pouring water over the mouth and noise to give the sensation of drowning, at a time when intelligence officials feared more attacks were imminent.

» "Those two realities have changed," he said.

McClatchy

WASHINGTON – A steady stream of Western recruits to al-Qaida camps on the Pakistani border bolsters the group’s ability to strike the United States, the nation’s top intelligence official said Tuesday.

Those camps prepare recruits to launch terror attacks worldwide and are a staging ground for assaults on neighboring Afghanistan, said National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.

“Al-Qaida is improving the last key aspect of its ability to attack the U.S.: the identification, training and positioning of operatives for an attack on the homeland,” McConnell testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

McConnell offered a mixed assessment of the Bush administration’s progress in the war on terror. On the one hand, he said, it was “no accident” there had been no major attacks against the United States or most of its allies in the last year.

Working with its European counterparts, the United States has helped unravel extremist plots in Spain, Denmark and Germany, he said. He also described the recently reported death of Abu Layth al-Libi, one of al-Qaida’s military commanders, in a missile attack in Pakistan, as “the most serious blow to the group’s top leadership” since December 2005.

But while al-Qaida had suffered setbacks, he said, including significant casualties in Iraq and a declining reputation among some segments of the Muslim community as a result of its attacks on civilians, the group continues to pose a serious threat.

He noted an influx of Western recruits to al-Qaida training camps since mid-2006.

“I am increasingly concerned that as we inflict significant damage on al-Qaida in Iraq, it may shift resources to mounting more attacks outside of Iraq,” he said.

Documents found in Iraq indicate fewer than 100 militants have left that nation to form cells in other countries, according to a report released with McConnell’s testimony.

Beyond terrorism, McConnell said that globalization had broadened challenges facing the nation. He cited concerns that the financial clout of Russia, China and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries might be used to advance political goals.

And he noted that Iran and North Korea continue to flout the United Nations with their nuclear programs.

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