Alert Casts Doubt on U.S. Progress Vs. Al Qaeda
Tue December 23, 2003 05:58 PM ET
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By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - By putting the nation on "high" alert for terrorist attacks that could be bigger than those of Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration has cast doubt on some of its own claims of success combating al Qaeda, lawmakers and analysts said on Tuesday.
It may also help vindicate Democrats, led by presidential hopeful Howard Dean, who challenged White House assertions that the war in Iraq -- and the high-profile arrest of fugitive Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein -- would make America safer.
Although Osama bin Laden remains at large, the Bush administration has run his terrorist network out of Afghanistan and arrested or killed several of his top lieutenants.
But al Qaeda has fragmented into cells that may be harder to find and stop, is establishing new bases for training, and is recruiting new members -- aided by widespread opposition in the Arab world to the war in Iraq, experts said.
At home, the administration has yet to compile a detailed "terrorist watch list" or draw up comprehensive plans to secure sensitive U.S. targets against new attacks, said Rep. Jim Turner of Texas, the ranking Democrat on the House committee that oversees homeland security.
"We should have moved faster," he said.
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