According to a new report by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), al Qaeda "has more than 18,000 potential terrorists," and its support base is growing, as reported by CNN. The IISS believes that al Qaeda "poses a growing threat to Western interests and attacks are likely to increase," and that the terrorist organization "will continue carrying out attacks on 'soft targets encompassing Americans, Europeans and Israelis and aiding the insurgency in Iraq,'" according to IISS director John Chipman. I'm sorry, but didn't the Bush administration say with a straight face that going to war with Iraq would actually make the world safer and "remove a key ally of al Qaeda" (Bush's words, on his May 1, 2003 'Mission Accomplished' speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln), ignoring that Osama bin Laden -- an Islamic fundamentalist -- and Saddam Hussein, an atheistic ex-tyrant -- hate each other; in fact, in one audio tape attributed to bin Laden, the murderer referred to the other as a "secular infidel."