Iraq as Bush's distracting shiny object

President Bush, March 18, 2004

So the terrorists understand that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror.

President Bush, May 24, 2004:

[Zarqawi] and other terrorists know that Iraq is now the central front in the war on terror. And we must understand that, as well.

President Bush, July 12, 2004:

Today, because America and our coalition helped to end the violent regime of Saddam Hussein, and because we're helping to raise a peaceful democracy in its place, the American people are safer.

From the AP, October 11th, 2004:

The war in Iraq did not damage international terror groups, but instead distracted the United States from confronting other hotbeds of Islamic militancy and actually "created momentum" for many terrorists, a top Israeli security think tank said in a report released Monday.

President Bush has called the war in Iraq an integral part of the war on terrorism, saying that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) hoped to develop unconventional weapons and could have given them to Islamic militants across the world.

But the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said that instead of striking a blow against Islamic extremists, the Iraq war "has created momentum for many terrorist elements, but chiefly al-Qaida and its affiliates."