Angle left out Iraq troop increase's apparent undermining of U.S. effort in Afghanistan

On the January 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report, Fox News chief Washington correspondent Jim Angle reported that an "assessment" presented to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence by the U.S. intelligence community "said that Afghanistan is under pressure and that 2007 is a pivotal year -- that the ability to stop a resurgence of the Taliban will determine the country's future." But Angle did not mention that, despite this assessment, the Bush administration's decision to send additional U.S. troops to Iraq would reportedly mean withdrawing a battalion currently deployed in Afghanistan in this "pivotal year" and sending it to Iraq.

According to a January 7 Baltimore Sun article, the then-expected troop increase in Iraq "would strain the Army and Marine Corps as they struggle to man both wars" in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to "Pentagon officials." "Already," the article continued, "a U.S. Army infantry battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks in order to deploy to Iraq." In a January 11 article reporting that "U.S. commanders [in Afghanistan] have issued a request for reinforcements against a resurgence of Taliban fighters," Stars & Stripes observed that, based on the Sun's report of a battalion move, "[t]he 'surge' option in Iraq also could have a direct impact on the mission in Afghanistan."

According to Angle, the assessment focused on "the threats the U.S. now faces."

From the January 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

ANGLE: The assessment also said that Afghanistan is under pressure and that 2007 is a pivotal year -- that the ability to stop a resurgence of the Taliban will determine the country's future.

The intelligence community also expressed broad concerns about the ongoing effort of unfriendly nations to obtain nuclear weapons, especially Iran.

—R.S.K.