By Salama Ahmed Salama The conflict in Iraq and the scandals that have erupted following revelations of torture in occupation-run prisons have undermined the credibility of the Bush administration, jeopardising the president's re-election chances. To regain his standing with the American public President Bush wants to play on their fears of possible future attacks by Al-Qaeda. He claims that Al-Qaeda is seeking to wage attacks on American soil similar to those it conducted in Madrid. The effect of those, we all know, was to bring down the Spanish government. Even in the US, Bush's scare tactics are viewed with suspicion. Over the past two years US security and intelligence chiefs have repeatedly warned of attacks by Al-Qaeda, citing "confirmed" but "classified" information. The US authorities have taken strict security measures, kept close watch on Arab and Muslim Americans, and raised the nation's state of alert to the highest level on several occasions. Each time it transpired that the warnings were misplaced and that their aim was simply to cover up the failures of US foreign policy and the ineffectiveness of the measures taken in the course of Washington's so-called war on terror. The views expressed above are not my own. They have been voiced by Bush's opponents in the Democratic Party, especially by the Democratic presidential candidate. John Kerry said that the terror warnings are proof of Bush's inability to deflect the criticism linked to the Iraq debacle and the Abu Ghraib scandal. Former Vice-President Al Gore has called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his close associates. It is worth noting that the US warnings were issued at the same time as a report produced by a London-based Centre for Strategic Studies. The centre, based on undisclosed data, claims that Al-Qaeda has mobilised thousands of volunteers across the world in an effort to stage a new wave of terror. The centre calls for the extradition of the extremist cleric Abu Hamza Al-Masri to the US for alleged involvement in terror. For years the UK authorities have tolerated Al-Masri's presence in their country. The anti-terror agencies, the coalition armies, and the intelligence operations the US has organised in coordination with other countries have all failed to dent, let alone put a stop, to Al-Qaeda's operational capabilities. This should furnish a lesson to the US, though it is a lesson that Washington seems intent on ignoring. Such was the conclusion US newspapers drew from Bush's speech at an American military academy about his plans for the future of Iraq. The newspapers said that, following 14 months of failure, Bush has not come up with any new vision to break the impasse, and is actually back to square one. With 30 June, the day of handing power to the Iraqis, behind us, the US president looks as if he is running out of options.
