Iraq metastatizes

The NYTimes has an article tomorrow discussing the outflow of Al Qaeda and other foreign fighters from Iraq into surrounding countries.

For quite awhile, the theory has been around that Iraq would serve as a training ground for the next generation of terrorists, (those too young to have fought in the Afghanistan/Russian war.) Well, here we are.

The Iraq war, which for years has drawn militants from around the world, is beginning to export fighters and the tactics they have honed in the insurgency to neighboring countries and beyond, according to American, European and Middle Eastern government officials and interviews with militant leaders in Lebanon, Jordan and London.....

Estimating the number of fighters leaving Iraq is at least as difficult as it has been to count foreign militants joining the insurgency. But early signs of an exodus are clear, and officials in the United States and the Middle East say the potential for veterans of the insurgency to spread far beyond Iraq is significant.

At this point, the numbers appear to be relatively small and the destinations largely neighboring countries who have been US allies (Jordan, Saudi Arabia,) but the expectation is that both the numbers and the geography will broaden.

What's particularly frightening about this is that these are not neophyte, green kids being lured into setting off suicide belts, these are battle hardened killers coming out with training, technology, and tactics.

This is not just a threat right now or tomorrow. These guys will be a threat for a decade.