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Only 100 al-Qaida now in Afghanistan
As he justified sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan at a cost of $30 billion a year, President Barack Obama's description Tuesday of the al-Qaida "cancer" in that country left out one key fact: U.S. intelligence officials have concluded there are only about 100 al-Qaida fighters in the entire country.
A senior U.S. intelligence official told ABCNews.com the approximate estimate of 100 al-Qaida members left in Afghanistan reflects the conclusion of US intelligence agencies and the Defense Department. The relatively small number was part of the intelligence passed on to the White House as President Obama conducted his deliberations.
President Obama made only a vague reference to the size of the al-Qaida presence in his speech at West Point, when he said, "al-Qaida has not reemerged in Afghanistan in the same number as before 9/11, but they retain their safe havens along the border."