RICE

WASHINGTON (AP):

The United States is safer now than it was before the September 11, 2001 attacks, but must not relent in fighting terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday.

"I think it's clear that we are safe - safer - but not really yet safe," said Rice, who was President George W. Bush's national security adviser when al-Qaida master-minded the 9/11 attacks.

Yet, Democratic leaders said the Bush administration has got the U.S. bogged down in Iraq when there was no evidence of links to the September 11 attacks, detracting from efforts against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

"I think we're in trouble," said Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Poll results

A poll released yesterday found that 55 per cent of those surveyed think the country is safer from terrorism than it was before September 11, 2001, while 37 per cent do not. The ABC News poll also said 38 per cent think the Government is doing all it can to prevent another terrorist attack, while 60 per cent say it is not.

Vice-president Dick Cheney defended the invasion of Iraq, but acknowledged that the insurgency was not 'in its last throes', as he said in May 2005. "I think there is no question but that we did not anticipate an insurgency that would last this long," he said.

A Senate report released last Friday disclosed for the first time that a CIA assessment in October 2005 said Saddam's government "did not have a relationship, harbour or turn a blind eye toward" al-Qaida operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or his associates.

Rice, however, maintained "there were ties between Iraq and al-Qaida. Now, are we learning more now that we have access to people like Saddam Hussein's intelligence services? Of course we're going to learn more."

Ideology of hatred

She said that "as far as we know," Saddam had no knowledge of or role in the September 11 plot. "If you think that 9/11 was just about al-Qaida and the hijackers, then there's no connection to Iraq. But if you believe, as the president does and as I believe, that the problem is this ideology of hatred that has taken root, extremist ideology that has taken root in the Middle East, and that you have to go to the source and do something about the politics of that region," Rice said.

According to recent AP-Ipsos polling, half in the U.S. say they feel the cost of fighting terrorism may be too high, and 45 per cent say they have less faith in the Government's ability to protect them. Also, just over half have little confidence that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden will ever be caught.

A Republican member of the commission that investigated the September 11 attacks said the U.S. has taken important steps to stem terrorism by capturing many of those responsible for the planning.

"We have gotten rid of most if not all theatre commanders of al-Qaida, but we have not addressed as a nation the root cause ... this jihadist ideology that is being preached around the world, basically funded with Persian Gulf money," John Lehman said.