War on terra update

Earlier in the week we were treated to the release of very small sections of the US National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq. The White House had hoped that the release of these snippets would support their case that everything is going swimmingly. That doesn't seem to be the case.

Today the British intelligence community weighs via a report leaked to BBC programme Newsnight that says that the Iraq war has acted as a "recruiting sergeant for extremists across the Muslim world". The report, actually written about the situation in Pakistan, also condemns the British government over Afghanistan saying it had sent troops there "with its eyes closed". The government has attempted to distance itself from the document saying that it represents the thinking of neither the government nor the MOD.

Elsewhere in the real world:

The bodies of 40 man, most apparently tortured, have been found on the streets of Baghdad over the last 24 hours.

A suicide bomber has killed 19 in an attack in Helmand province where British troops are primarily deployed.

Lincoln Group, who has admitted paying journalist to plant pro-American articles in the Iraqi press, has been awarded a new contract, worth 6.2 million USD over two years, to "monitor a number of English and Arabic news outlets and to produce public-relations products like talking points or speeches for American forces in Iraq".

The war in Iraq is now costing US taxpayers nearly 2 billion USD a week up 20% on last year. Running ahead of inflation then!