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I was previously a constitutional law and civil rights litigator and am now a journalist. I am the author of three New York Times bestselling books -- "How Would a Patriot Act" (a critique of Bush executive power theories), "Tragic Legacy" (documenting the Bush legacy), and With Liberty and Justice for Some (critiquing America's two-tiered justice system and the collapse of the rule of law for its political and financial elites). My fifth book - No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the US Surveillance State - will be released on April 29, 2014 by Holt/Metropolitan.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Al Qaida's "Iraq branch"

This is the first paragraph of the Washington Post article on last Wednesday's terrorist bombing in Jordan:

Thousands of Jordanians rallied in the capital and other cities shouting "Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!" a day after three deadly hotel bombings that killed at least 59 people. Officials suspected Iraqi involvement in the attacks, which were claimed by al-Qaida's Iraq branch.

So al-Qaida now has a full-fledged "Iraq branch," which can organize and launch extremely deadly terrorist attacks on neighboring countries.

Regardless of one's views on the level and quantity of Iraq/al-Qaida connections before the war (if any), it is indisputable that al-Qaida had no such branch and no such capabilities based in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion.

Even if one believes that there are lots of important benefits from our invasion of Iraq, isn't this development unquestionably a very undesirable outcome of this war?

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