Intel czar sees new threats as Afghan situation worsens

Well welcome to the real world Mr. Blair !
As usual it is easy to play master of the Obvious ,After the fact ! It does not take much to see what is going on in the world , a little reading here , some T.V. watching there ! And anybody can come to the conclusion that Afghanistan is not a good place and is going to be a big challenge !

Daily news
WASHINGTON - America faces a growing storm from militants spread across Asia, Africa and the Middle East - while the war in Iraq is virtually over, the nation's top spy said Thursday.

But in Afghanistan, where President Obama is doubling U.S. forces this year, "the security situation has deteriorated," Obama's new intelligence czar, Dennis Blair, told Congress.

Blair boasted, however, that an offensive next-door in Pakistan has leveled the worst "succession of blows" to Al Qaeda since the fall of the Taliban regime.

But he dismissed speculation that Osama Bin Laden's goons are on the ropes, saying the U.S. is not "within sight of victory."

"The facts as I know them are not that optimistic," Blair told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The Daily News has reported that eight Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan have been killed in CIA missile strikes in the past seven months.

The committee's chairman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), noted publicly for the first time Thursday that the CIA's predator drones "are flown out of a Pakistani base."

....

Elsewhere, Islamic extremism is still gaining in Algeria, Somalia and Yemen.

However, Iraq's main terror groups have essentially quit the global jihad, Blair testified.

"Most Iraqi-led Sunni insurgent groups have largely suspended operations against the coalition," Blair said.

Blair noted Iran has also lost influence with Iraq's Shiite majority.

Despite the surprisingly sunny assessment, not a single member of the committee - among the few senators who showed up for Blair's first hearing as director of national intelligence - asked him about the prospect of declaring victory in Iraq.

Nine Americans have died in combat in Iraq this year.