Iraq: US provides fertile ground for the terrorists

washingtonpost: At U.N., Bush Links War on Terrorism to Anti-Poverty Efforts

President Bush, reaching out to an audience he has antagonized in the past, told the assembled leaders of the world Wednesday that the United States shared "a moral duty" to combat not only terrorism but also the poverty, oppression and hopelessness that give rise to it.

Addressing the United Nations, Bush linked his campaign against terrorism to the anti-poverty agenda advanced by other nations, although he shied away from adopting some of the specific commitments sought by allies. He later took the U.S. seat at the Security Council for the first time in his presidency to emphasize his solidarity with other countries in the struggle against terrorism.

"We must help raise up the failing states and stagnant societies that provide fertile ground for the terrorists," Bush said at the gathering of more than 150 presidents and prime ministers on hand to mark the 60th anniversary of the world body. Read more


db: Was it not the US that provided fertile ground in Afghanistan for the growth of al Qaida? And regarding Iraq, as Peter Goss said "Those jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced in and focused on acts of urban terrorism, they represent a potential pool of contacts to build transnational terrorist cells, groups and networks." - network - like the earlier Afghan data BASE which was also created with the help of US foreign policy blunders.