Iraq war radicalizing Muslims, UK defence report warns
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Sept 28, IRNA
The Iraq war has acted to radicalize Muslims across the world, a report prepared for Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has warned.
The study, said to have been written by an officer attached to the intelligence services, also accused the British government of sending troops to Iraq "with its eyes closed."
But according to news reports on Thursday, the MoD has distanced itself from the report, saying that it was "deeply irresponsible" and "willfully misrepresented."
"The academic research notes quoted in no way represent the views of the MoD or the government," an MoD spokesperson was quoted as saying.
The report warned that the situation in Iraq "has acted as a recruiting sergeant for extremists across the Muslim world" and had "served to radicalize an already disillusioned youth and Al-Qaeda has given them the will, intent, purpose and ideology to act." It also said that the government was "in a fix" and claimed that a secret deal to extricate UK troops from Iraq so they could focus on Afghanistan failed when British military leaders were overruled.
The study, which was obtained by BBC2's Newsnight program ahead of an interview with Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, also included a savage attack on Pakistan's intelligence service of indirectly aiding Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
But speaking on Newsnight, Musharraf angrily rejected the claims, insisting that Pakistan's ISI services were doing an "excellent job" in tracking down and apprehending militants.
"ISI is a disciplined force, breaking the back of Al-Qaeda.
Getting 680 people would not have been possible if our ISI was not doing an excellent job," he said.
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