“Rand Beers, who was NSC [National Security Council] senior director for counterterrorism and, after serving in the White House of every president from Reagan to the younger Bush, one of the most respected civil servants in Washington, left his position shortly before fighting began in Iraq. Eight weeks later [on June 16, 2003], The Washington Post wrote that Beers believed ‘the focus on Iraq has robbed domestic security of manpower, brainpower and money…and could breed a new generation of al Qaeda recruits. Many of his government colleagues, he said, thought Iraq was an *ill-conceived and poorly executed strategy.* ‘ ”
– Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Age of Sacred Terror, Page 472