The fertile crescent

From the declassified section of the new US National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism: an admission that Iraq has become the 2nd pillar of al-Qaeda, which it was not before the invasion --

we assess that al-Qa’ida will probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI), its most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the [US] Homeland. In addition, we assess that its association with AQI helps al-Qa’ida to energize the broader Sunni extremist community, raise resources, and to recruit and indoctrinate operatives, including for Homeland attacks.