BREAKING NEWS: Al Qaeda wants to kill us!!

Right now, you could knock me over with a feather, I'm so shocked.

It's been all over the news that Al Qaeda is gathering strength and still wants to attack the United States:

Al-Qaida is stepping up its efforts to sneak terror operatives into the United States and has acquired most of the capabilities it needs to strike here, according to a new U.S. intelligence assessment, The Associated Press has learned.

The draft National Intelligence Estimate is expected to paint an ever-more-worrisome portrait of al-Qaida’s ability to use its base along the Pakistan-Afghan border to launch and inspire attacks, even as Bush administration officials say the U.S. is safer nearly six years into the war on terror.

The document also discusses increasing concern about individuals already inside the United States who are adopting an extremist brand of Islam.

Government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been finalized, described it as an expansive look at potential threats within the United States and said it required the cooperation of a number of national security agencies, including the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security Department and National Counterterrorism Center.

At a news conference Thursday, President Bush acknowledged al-Qaida’s continuing threat to the United States and used the new report as evidence his administration’s policies are on the right course.

“The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on Sept. 11,” he said. “That’s why what happens in Iraq matters to security here at home.”

I think this is the most shocking news of the YEAR. Extremist Muslims are prepared to join up with Al Qaeda?! And Al Qaeda still wants to kill us?!

Well, thank you Captain Obvious!

Michelle Malkin already pointed out in May that 1 in 4 younger US Muslims would support suicide bombings as acceptable, and 3 in 10 of all US Muslims have favorable views or no opinion of Al Qaeda.

A little behind on the times, huh?

What did the MSM think that Al Qaeda was going to do? Stop trying? Of COURSE they are going to be trying to establish cells and operatives inside the United States. And what did the MSM think that Al Qaeda was going to do with its' varied bases? Hold slumber parties, watch Michael Moore crockumentaries, and hold pageants to choose their 72 virgins?

Basically, the MSM is trying to incite fear into the American public, and simultaneously smear President Bush for not withdrawing from Iraq right now -- to concentrate on terrorism elsewhere, of course.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News has a post about how the AP is being deliberately misleading:

Here's the relevant part of the article, which is based on the interpretation of a report, by anonymous sources, that the AP hasn't seen, and that we are therefore unable to peruse ourselves,

"Al Qaeda is "considerably operationally stronger than a year ago" and has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001," the counterterrorism official said, paraphrasing the report's conclusions. "They are showing greater and greater ability to plan attacks in Europe and the United States."

The group also has created "the most robust training program since 2001, with an interest in using European operatives," the official quoted the report as saying."

Those quotes, which have obviously been cherrypicked and paraphrased by someone looking to embarrass the Bush administration, say that Al-Qaeda is stronger than they were a year ago and have, "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001."

Although it's impossible to say how accurate that interpretation of the report actually is since it's based on the paraphrased words of an anonymous source, it expressly DOES NOT say Al-Qaeda is as strong as they were in the summer of 2001. Technically, these statements could be true...

"Al Qaeda is "considerably operationally stronger than a year ago" and has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001"

.....if Al-Qaeda was at 30% or 40% of their summer of 2001 strength. So therefore, the headline is deliberately misleading and designed to give people a false impression about this report which is, quite frankly, so thinly sourced that the AP shouldn't have published it in the first place given the controversial conclusion that it draws with its headline.

Frankly, I'm surprised the MSM is even taking the position that there are Muslims that want to kill us. Usually, they rant on about how Islam is a "religion of peace", America is an oppressor, and our foreign policy brought this all upon us, and if we'd only be more understanding and tolerant, Al Qaeda would just leave us alone.

But, if instilling fear into Americans can get the approval rate for the war in Iraq to drop a little lower, the MSM will jump all over it.