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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071700099.html?hpid=topnews
New Intelligence Estimate: Al-Qaeda's Gains Keep U.S. at Risk
[Washington Post] Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus - Al-Qaeda has reestablished its central organization, training infrastructure and lines of global communication over the past two years, putting the U.S. in a "heightened threat environment" despite expanded worldwide counterterrorism efforts, according to a new intelligence estimate. Intelligence officials attributed the al-Qaeda gains primarily to its establishment of a safe haven in ungoverned areas of northwestern Pakistan. Its affiliation with the Sunni insurgent group Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the report said, has helped it to "energize" extremists elsewhere and has aided bin Laden's recruitment and funding. The estimate concluded that "the U.S. Homeland will face a persistent and evolving terrorist threat over the next three years." The report stressed the effectiveness of counterterrorism measures, in cooperation with other countries, in disrupting terrorist networks and preventing attacks against the U.S. in the years immediately after Sept. 11, 2001.