Bush has insisted that the fight for Iraq is THE fight against terrorism and that, even yesterday, still tried to link Iraq and 9/11 by saying, “Al-Qaida is doing most of the spectacular bombings, trying to incite sectarian violence..The same people that attacked us on September the 11th is a crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children, many of whom are Muslims.”

Okay, then how do you explain this?

According to U.S. counterterrorism analysts, Al Quaeda is regrouped and nearly back to pre-9/11 strength. But, they are amassing their strength in Iraq, right? No, in fact they are at the place that we took our collective eye off to pursue a war of choice in Iraq is where Al Quaeda is renewing its strength.

John Kringen, who heads the CIA’s analysis directorate, echoed the concerns about al-Qaida’s resurgence during testimony and conversations with reporters at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday.

“They seem to be fairly well settled into the safe haven and the ungoverned spaces of Pakistan,” Kringen testified. “We see more training. We see more money. We see more communications. We see that activity rising.”

The threat assessment comes as the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies prepare a National Intelligence Estimate focusing on threats to the United States. A senior intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the high-level analysis was being completed, said the document has been in the works for roughly two years.

That “ungoverned space” is along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border — the same region that Osama bin Laden my very well be today.

So, when Bush is talking about fighting terror, does anybody besides the 29% of America who still support him actually believe that he knows what he doing?

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