Posted By:
Howard Kaloogian
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There was a great commentary piece in Sunday’s edition of the Boston Herald, outlining one important way that Operation Iraqi Freedom has dealt a major setback to Al Qaeda.

The column was written by Jules Crittenden and is worthy of your attention.

New tome: War vs. Saddam hit al-Qaeda hard

Beneath all the public reasons for invading Iraq lies a secret war agenda that has paid off in the war on al-Qaeda, according to a leading intelligence analyst.

``The Bush administration has been represented as strategically stupid but adept at political manipulation. The opposite is true,’’ said George Friedman, president of Stratfor, a firm that delivers global strategic forecasting and open-source intelligence analysis to corporate clients.

Friedman’s book, ``America’s Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between America and its Enemies,’’ which goes on sale Tuesday, argues that midway through the war on terrorism, America has made major gains while al-Qaeda has failed in most of its goals and is on the defensive. Iraq, he argues, is a keystone of American strategy against al-Qaeda.

In the decision to invade Iraq, he argues, disarming a dangerous dictator and bringing democracy to the Middle East were secondary war goals. The factor that tipped the balance in internal Bush administration debates in mid-2002 was Saudi Arabia’s recalcitrance in the war on al-Qaeda, he says.

America’s invasion of Iraq put pressure on the Saudis that forced them to act against al-Qaeda sympathizers within Saudi Arabia in ways the Saudis had been unwilling to do, Friedman said.

In the past year, Friedman argues, it has worked. The Saudis, shaken by America’s action, has engaged in a ``civil war’’ against al-Qaeda, killing operatives, busting up cells and cracking down on the group’s financial network.

CLICK HERE to read the entire column.