How to Make a Terrorist

A pair of studies casts doubt on the White House's shaky claim that the Iraq War has made the U.S. safer from the threat terrorism. I know, I know -- it's a shocker.

Bryan Bender of the Boston Globe reports that investigations by Saudi Arabia (OK, perhaps not the most unimpeachable source) and an Israeli think tank (better) indicate that the Iraq insurgency is not drawing terrorists, but rather fighters who are becoming radicalized as a result:

"Interrogations of nearly 300 Saudis captured while trying to sneak into Iraq and case studies of more than three dozen others who blew themselves up in suicide attacks show that most were heeding the calls from clerics and activists to drive infidels out of Arab land, according to a study by Saudi investigator Nawaf Obaid, a US-trained analyst who was commissioned by the Saudi government and given access to Saudi officials and intelligence.

"A separate Israeli analysis of 154 foreign fighters compiled by a leading terrorism researcher found that despite the presence of some senior Al Qaeda operatives who are organizing the volunteers, 'the vast majority of [non-Iraqi] Arabs killed in Iraq have never taken part in any terrorist activity prior to their arrival in Iraq.' "

What a colossal failure has been the Bush Doctrine in Iraq. Dubya and the Neocons (a phrase destined to be the name of an alt-rock band in 20 years) contend that we are fighting terrorists in Iraq so that we don't have to fight them on U.S. soil -- yet another post-war rationalization -- as if somehow there is a finite number of terrorists, and we are weighting down the see-saw by luring them to blow up our troops in Iraq.

Well, here's the punch line: Iraq is an incubator for terrorists. Congrats, Mr. President.