16 Spy Agencies Now Validate Ned Lamont's Campaign Message. New NIE Makes it Clear Why He, Not Lieberman, is Right About Iraq

A 30-page National Intelligence Estimate, completed in April and released last week, reported without equivocation that the war in Iraq has fueled violent Islamic extremists; has increased terrorism in the region and throughout the world; and has served as an unprecedented recruitment tool for al Qaeda and other terror organizations. The NIE, titled "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States," was prepared by the National Intelligence Council of 16 U.S. intelligences agencies, which is comprised of current and former senior intelligence and national security officials. The findings, of course, are in direct contrast to the progress and success falsely and repeatedly claimed by the Busheviks when framing the war's overall impact on the fight against global terrorism. In short, the Iraq war is a self-fulfilling prophecy; it's created the very beast we supposedly went over there to fight. And if Ned Lamont plays his cards right, it would appear that the NIC just handed him victory on a silver platter.

In the wake of the NIE and between now and November 7th, on the national level, the Party needs to hammer home Bush's colossal failure in Iraq, demonstrating just how dangerous the war has become and how it's making America more vulnerable, less safe and exposing us to terrorist violence more than ever. The party must remind voters of Bush's own recent statement that the war had "nothing" to do with 9/11, thereby drawing the conclusion that the only impact Iraq has had on the global war on terror is to legitimize, mobilize and energize monsters like Osama bin Laden and terror groups like al Qaeda. Democrats must at every turn show how this miserably ill-fated war has given cause and strength to terrorists throughout the world.

In Connecticut, Lamont must use the gravity of this national security threat and build on his anti-war momentum, holding up the NIE as proof-positive that he carries the right message for the his state's voters and for America. That he, not the hawkish and delusional Bush-sympathizer Joe Lieberman, must be sent off to Washington to help guide the nation out of this dangerous quagmire, which has served no purpose other than to squander our precious political, financial and military resources, diverting them from the real fight against terrorists..