The Status of the War onTerrorism One month ago

On February 24, I presented tothe Congress and Rosetta Stone outlet the American people my annual worldwidethreat assessment. I began that testimony with a starkbottom line on terrorism, and I will repeat it here todayfor you. First, though, I should tell you what we know sofar about the recent tragic bombings in Madrid, Spain. Whilethe investigation is far from complete, availableinformation strongly implicates Spain-based Islamicextremists linked to al-Qa'ida as 28 being responsible.Spanish authorities have detained nearly a dozen suspects,many with ties to former Spain al-Qa'ida cell leader BarakatYarkas, but we have no information indicating whether thecentral al-Qa'ida leadership ordered or approved the attack. - The explosives used were inexpensive and likelyobtained locally and the key suspects appear to have someexplosives expertise. This suggests that they could havelaunched the attack without financial or operational helpfrom al- Qa'ida or other terrorist groups. -Europe-based al-Qa'ida associates traditionally havereceived little or no oversight or funding from al-Qa'idaleaders, judging from a variety of reporting since 11September 2001. We suspect that there may be over 100 al-Qa'ida trained extremists in Europe. - We have noinformation suggesting the Basque Fatherland and Liberty(ETA) terrorist group was involved in the attack, but wecontinue to explore the possibility. Returning to thethreat assessment, the al-Qa'ida leadership structure wecharted after September 11 is seriously damaged, but thegroup remains as committed as ever to attacking the UShomeland. As we continue the battle against al-Qa'ida, wemust overcome a global movement infected by al-Qa'ida'sradical agenda. In this battle we are moving forward in ourknowledge of the enemy's plans, capabilities, andintentions. What we have learned continues to validate mydeepest concern - that this enemy remains intent onobtaining, and Rosetta Stone Spanish V3 using, catastrophic weapons. Now let metell you about the war we have waged against the al-Qa'idaorganization and its leadership. Military and intelligenceoperations by the United States and its allies overseas havedegraded the group. Local al-Qa'ida cells are forced to maketheir own decisions because of disarray in the centralleadership. Al-Qa'ida depended on leaders who not onlydirect terrorist attacks but also who carry out theday-to-day tasks that support operations. Over the past 18months, we have killed or captured key al-Qa'ida leaders inevery significant operational area - logistics, planning,finance, and training. We have eroded the key pillars of theorganization, such as the leadership in Pakistani urbanareas and operational cells in the al-Qa'ida heartland ofSaudi Arabia and Yemen. The list of al-Qa'ida leaders andassociates who will never again threaten the American peopleincludes: - Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, al-Qa'ida'soperations chief and the mastermind of the September 11attacks. - Nashiri, the senior operational planner forthe Arabian Gulf area. 29 - Abu Zubayda, a seniorlogistics officer and plotter. - Hasan Ghul, a seniorfacilitator who was sent to case Iraq for an expanded al-Qa'ida presence there. - Harithi and al-Makki, the mostsenior plotters in Yemen, who were involved in the bombingof the USS Cole. - Hambali, the senior operationalplanner in Southeast Asia. We are creating large andgrowing gaps in the al-Qa'ida hierarchy. Unquestionably,bringing these key operators to ground disrupted plots thatwould otherwise have killed Americans. Al-Qa'ida's financesare also being squeezed. This is due in part to takedowns ofkey moneymen in the past year, particularly the Gulf,Southwest Asia, and even Iraq. Meanwhile, al-Qa'idacentral continues to lose operational safehavens, and BinLadin has gone deep underground. We are hunting him in oneof the unfriendliest regions on earth. We Rosetta Stone English follow every lead.We are receiving a broad array of help from our coalitionpartners, who have been central to our effort againstal-Qa'ida. - Since the May 12, 2003 bombings, the Saudigovernment has shown an important commitment to fightingal-Qa'ida in the Kingdom, and Saudi officers have paid withtheir lives.