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However, on the morning of July 12, 2007, President [[George W. Bush]] and [[Michael Chertoff]], Secretary of [[U.S. Department of Homeland Security|Homeland Security]], "attempted to play down the intelligence report.<ref>Mimikatz, [http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/07/al-qaeda-determ.html "Al Qaeda Determined To Attack In US,"] ''The Next Hurrah'' Blog, July 11, 2007.</ref> 'I wouldn’t put it [the threat] at that level — in my own opinion,' said Chertoff. Bush claimed:<ref>Satyam Khanna, [http://thinkprogress.org/2007/07/12/bush-chertoff-intelligence/ "Bush, Chertoff Seek To Discredit Their Own Intelligence, Claim al Qaeda Is ‘Weaker’,"] ''Think Progress'', July 12, 2007. Includes video link to Bush/Chertoff shown on CNN.</ref>
:<blockquote>There is a perception in the coverage that al Qaeda may be as strong today as they were prior to [[September 11, 2001|September 11th]]. That’s simply not the case…because of the actions we’ve taken, al Qaeda is weaker today than they would have been.</blockquote>
On June 28, 2007, Bush, in a "major speech" at the Naval War College, "referred to al Qaida at least 27 times, [which] seemed calculated to use lingering outrage over the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to bolster support for the [[troop surge in Iraq|current buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq]], despite evidence that sending more troops hasn't reduced the violence or sped Iraqi government action on key issues."<ref>Jonathan S. Landay, [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/17471.html "Bush plays al Qaida card to bolster support for Iraq policy,"] [[McClatchy Newspapers]], June 28, 2007.</ref>
Bush called al Qaida "'the main enemy' in [[Iraq]], an assertion rejected by his administration's senior intelligence analysts", and "the perpetrator of the worst violence racking that country and said it was the same group that had carried out the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington."<ref>Ibid.</ref>
"U.S. military and intelligence officials, however, say that Iraqis with ties to al Qaida are only a small fraction of the threat to American troops. The group known as [[al Qaida in Iraq]] didn't exist before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, didn't pledge its loyalty to al Qaida leader [[Osama bin Laden]] until October 2004 and isn't controlled by bin Laden or his top aides."<ref>Ibid.</ref>
== Al Qaida and Egypt ==
The [[BBC]] Documentary [[The Power of Nightmares]] shows Egyptian [[Egypt]]ian roots in radical violent "Islamist" groups.
Marc Sageman asserts that Al Qaida has Egyptian origins, Egyptian ideologies, and Egyptian leaders. [http://www.fpri.org/enotes/20041101.middleeast.sageman.understandingterrornetworks.html]
== Al Qaida and CIA ==
"Al-Qaida, literally 'the database,' was originally the computer file of the thousands of [[mujahideen ]] who were recruited and trained with help from the [[CIA]] to defeat the Russians[[Russia]]ns," admits former British Foreign Secretary [[Robin Cook]], whose Foreign Office portfolio included control of British Intelligence Agency MI-6 and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), in a column published by the UK ''Guardian'' newspaper. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1523838,00.html]
In other words, the so-called "Al-Qaida," which was misnamed and misreported as "The Base" (not the "database") was simply a database of CIA trained mujahideen that has been portrayed as a coherent global network of terrorists.
