"The Bush Administration has stubbornly clung to bad policies in Iraq that are hurting the war on terror: case closed. The NIE represents a moment of clarity that shouldn't be ignored. We need a strategy for reversing the growth of Islamic extremists, not an unconvincing recitation of triumphs in Iraq."

Rand Beers, president, National Security Network 202-289-7211

"Now the US intelligence community is concluding what professional counter-terrorism experts have been saying for three years: invading Iraq made the terrorism problem worse. We also now know from the Senate Intelligence Committee report this month that invading Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism. So the invasion and occupation did not address a terrorism problem, it made one."

Richard A. Clarke, former White House director of counterterrorism 703-812-9199