AP misrepresented newly released NIE judgment on Al Qaeda's use of “contacts and capabilities” in Iraq

Written by Ben Armbruster

Published

In a June 17 article, the Associated Press misrepresented one of the key judgments of the newly released summary of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) titled “The Terrorist Threat to the Homeland.”

The AP reported in its first sentence:

The terrorist network Al-Qaida will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the United States.

By contrast, the relevant section of the declassified key judgments in the NIE stated the following:

We assess that al-Qa'ida will continue to enhance its capabilities to attack the Homeland through greater cooperation with regional terrorist groups. Of note, we assess that al-Qa'ida will probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al-Qa'ida in Iraq (AQI), its most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the Homeland. In addition, we assess that its association with AQI helps al-Qa'ida to energize the broader Sunni extremist community, raise resources, and to recruit and indoctrinate operatives, including for Homeland attacks.

In contrast with the NIE, the lead of the AP article omitted the phrase “seek to” and asserted directly that “Al-Qaida will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil.”

Further down in the article, the AP quoted the judgment correctly.

From the June 17 AP article:

The terrorist network Al-Qaida will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the United States.

[...]

The report makes clear that al-Qaida in Iraq, which has not yet posed a direct threat to U.S. soil, could become a problem here.

“Of note,” the analysts said, “we assess that al-Qaida will probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI), its most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the homeland.”