Did Invasion of Iraq Worsen Terror Threat to U.S.?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks Lou. And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you tonight's top stories. Happening now, Iraq ammunition, Democrats seizing on new evidence that the war is making the terror threat worse. It's 7:00 p.m. here in Washington where the Bush administration is arguing that America is safer. Also this hour, Bill Clinton lashing out, Hillary Rodham Clinton compared to the devil, and new questions being raised about their efforts to reach out to conservative critics. And Oprah Winfrey says she doesn't want to be president, but she says she knows someone who'd be great for the job. Could this be the start of a new campaign? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks Lou. Tonight, a question that hits at the heart of President Bush's defense of the Iraq war, and a Democrat's criticism of it. Is America safer from terrorists since the invasion of Iraq three years ago? A newly leaked portion of an intelligence report has the Bush administration very much on the defensive. And it has some Democrats chomping at the bit six weeks before Election Day. Let's begin with our justice correspondent Kelli Arena -- Kelli.</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, officials say the report is comprehensive, covering global trends in terrorism but the leaked portion only had to do with the war in Iraq.</s>ARENA (voice-over): It is the most authoritative assessment of the terrorism threat and according to officials concludes the war in Iraq has only made things worse. Ellen Laipson used to help prepare national intelligence estimates.</s>ELLEN LAIPSON, STIMSON CENTER: The judgment itself seems pretty straightforward to me and I think would not come as a surprise to many people who have been watching the violence in Iraq.</s>ARENA: Officials familiar with the report say it discusses how Iraq is now the primary training ground for Islamic extremists. The fear is those terrorists could then return to their home countries to carry out attacks there but the administration says the leaked portions of this secret report don't present a complete picture.</s>DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: It doesn't make any final judgments to say that America is less safer now because of this. It is just saying that they used it to use as a recruitment tool, which we shouldn't be surprised about.</s>ARENA: The estimate put together by 16 intelligence agencies and covers a wide range of issues from military to economic to political. It's a summation of viewpoints and a best guess forecast of things to come. Iraq would have been just one of many issues covered.</s>LAIPSON: Remember, an estimate doesn't boil down to one sentence. It may be a series of as many as five, six, seven major key findings and this would have been one of those findings.</s>ARENA: There are calls to declassify the report so the American people can see the context for themselves. Senator Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, says that he is negotiating a release with the director of national intelligence and he hopes to have a resolution soon, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Kelli thanks very much. Now to Capitol Hill where Democrats renewed their direct aim today at the Bush administration's Iraq policy. And they brought in some retired U.S. military officers for reinforcement. Here's our congressional correspondent Dana Bash -- Dana.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Senate Democrats already had on their books today a forum with top retired military officers to look back on Iraq and what they call Bush administration mistakes, reports of a new intelligence estimate gave them fresh ammunition to make the case those mistakes are continuing and with dangerous repercussions.</s>BASH: Top retired military men side by side on Capitol Hill with scathing firsthand accounts of how the president's team planned and prosecuted Iraq.</s>MAJ. GEN. JOHN BATISTE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Secretary Rumsfeld's dismal strategic decisions resulted in the unnecessary deaths of American service men and women, our allies and the good people of Iraq.</s>MAJ. GEN. PAUL EATON, U.S. ARMY (RET.): We are fighting an insurgency, a distributed low tech high concept war that demands greater numbers of ground forces not fewer. Mr. Rumsfeld won't acknowledge this fact.</s>BASH: Democrats seized on what they consider an election year gift. Reports of an intelligence assessment that Iraq is growing more terrorism hoping to undermine the Republicans' claim they make Americans safer.</s>SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: Far from being the central front in the war on terrorism as President Bush describes it, Iraq has become the central reason terror is on the rise five years after 9/11.</s>SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I see a world where there's going to be years and years, decades, of the repercussions of the mistakes that we made and for the reasons that we made them, the moral dimension of the reasons we made them.</s>BASH: In a sense this was pure political theater. Two retired generals and a colonel who've already called for Rumsfeld to be fired invited by Senate Democrats who don't have the power to call an official hearing but tried to make it look like one.</s>VOICE OF SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), ND: Does it surprise you that we have been told repeatedly over several years now that the commanders have not asked for more troops?</s>BATISTE: It's not a surprise at all. The whole thing is absolutely disingenuous.</s>BASH: Republicans said it was the Democrats being disingenuous.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is really nothing more than a political stunt and grandstanding. And, asking witnesses that really don't represent an impartial or all points of view.</s>SEN CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I hope that this hearing will be a wake-up call to our other colleagues in the Congress.</s>BASH: Democratic sources acknowledge this is a message designed to rally their base, to see if they control Congress, they'll ask the tough questions that Republicans won't.</s>BASH: Top Senate Democrats and the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee urged the administration to declassify the controversial Iraq report. Each side claiming the full document will help make their political case to voters that Iraq is or is not making them more safe -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Dana, thanks very much. And tonight the Bush White House says the leaked portion of that classified intelligence report doesn't tell the full story about Iraq and the war on terror. I spoke with the president's homeland security adviser, Frances Townsend, and I asked her if the widely reported headline of the report that Iraq has made the terror threat worse is accurate.</s>FRANCES TOWNSEND, WHITE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: No, I mean, it takes -- what this does is takes a single paragraph out of a more than 35-page report and blows it out of context. This is a report, Wolf, that's on global trends in terrorism over the next five years. Does it mention the jihad in Iraq is being used for propaganda purposes to spread Islamic extremism? It does, but it talks about it as a single factor. What hasn't been leaked or the other factors that are talked about in the report and it makes it very difficult if we're going to observe the classification of this document to be able to engage in this dialogue with the American people.</s>BLITZER: But does the document specifically state, Fran Townsend, that the war in Iraq has worsened the terrorist situation for the American public?</s>TOWNSEND: We are certainly not safe -- we are certainly not more at risk as a result of the war in Iraq and in fact, the thing that -- if we were to leave Iraq that would make us less safe. There's no question the document does mention the jihad in Iraq as one source of propaganda. But as we know, Wolf, from the 1990's when they used Afghanistan as a propaganda tool, we know they used the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, they now use the Internet to disseminate their propaganda. There are many things that they use for propaganda purposes.</s>BLITZER: But I know they refer to a lot of different reasons why the terror problem is so acute right now but does it specifically state that the war in Iraq has worsened the terror situation for the United States?</s>TOWNSEND: It does not say that. It does not say that the war in Iraq has worsened the terror situation for the United States.</s>BLITZER: What does it say on that -- the connection between the war in Iraq and terrorism right now?</s>TOWNSEND: As I said to you, there's certainly reference in this paragraph that talks about Iraq that the Iraq jihad is one of several things that are used to spread the message of global extremism around the world. It does say that. But again, as I said to you, that is one of only several factors and I can't very well go in to the rest of them. It's very frustrating for us. I can't go into it because it's classified.</s>BLITZER: Fran Townsend, the president's homeland security adviser speaking with me. And still ahead, a fact-check of the Iraq terror connection from our man in Baghdad, Michael Ware. You're going to want to hear what he has to say about this national intelligence estimate. That's coming up. President Bush's approval rating, by the way, is holding relatively steady in our brand new CNN poll. Forty-two percent of Americans say they approve of the way he's doing his job, but most -- that would be 55 percent -- say they disapprove. The poll shows Iraq and the war on terror are the two top issues weighing in on the minds of voters heading into the midterm elections. Once again, only six weeks away. Let's go to Jack Cafferty. He's in New York -- Jack.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Back to what you were talking about a minute ago. Some unwelcome news perhaps for President Bush and the Republicans right before the midterm elections. The national intelligence estimate says the war in Iraq has actually increased the threat of terrorist attacks here in the United States. This is part of a government's first formal report on global trends in terrorism and represents the consensus view of 16 separate spy agencies inside the federal government. That's right, Mr. President, your own intelligence agencies are telling you the strategy isn't working in Iraq. The report says the war and the insurgency in Iraq are the main recruiting vehicles for new Islamic extremists and that there are more of them now worldwide than ever before thanks to us. That's a far different story than we're hearing from the White House. The question is this -- is the war in Iraq increasing the terrorist threat to the United States? E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile.</s>BLITZER: Jack, thank you. And coming up, Bill Clinton lashes out at critics who say he didn't do enough to catch Osama bin Laden. We're doing a fact check for you. Plus, making friends and enemies with conservatives, Bill and Hillary Clinton's rocky relationship with the right. Also, liquid skies, grab your shampoo and toothpaste. They can now fly with you, carry-on. But there are other rules you need to know about. We're going to tell you what you need to know before you head out to the airport. And Oprah Winfrey on the campaign to draft her for the White House, find out now who she really wants to be president. She tells our Larry King and we're going to have a preview for that. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.