U.S. Sees New Al-Qaeda Threat By Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writer

The new director of national intelligence said yesterday that the United States is “very concerned” that Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership are attempting to rebuild their terrorist network and establish training camps in a region of northwest Pakistan “that has never been governed by any power.”

“We inflicted a major blow, they retreated to another area, and they are going through a process to reestablish and rebuild, adapting to the seams or the weak spots as they might perceive them,” retired Vice Adm. John M. McConnell told the Senate Armed Services Committee as he delivered his first global threat assessment to Capitol Hill. …

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked McConnell about the probability that al-Qaeda members in Pakistan or Iraq are organizing an attack on the United States — a scenario that President Bush recently hinted at should U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq. The intelligence chief replied that an attack would “most likely” emerge from Pakistan, though he described Iraq as “a cause celebre for the jihadists in creating forces,” and warned that al-Qaeda elements in Iraq, Syria and Europe are planning attacks.
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Bush and Al Qaeda – International Herald Tribune

The new picture seems to belie the triumphalist tone of President George W. Bush, who said a few days before last November’s congressional elections, “Al Qaeda is on the run.”