Bush warns of escalating danger from Shiite Muslim extremists, second only to al Qaeda

In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, the US president cautioned Iran against supporting Shiite attacks against Sunni Muslims in Iraq. He said Shiite extremists backed by Iran were on the rise as terrorist threats and as determined as their Sunni counterparts to create a Middle East governed by repressive regimes. He noted that most of the focus on the war on terrorism has been on the Sunni-oriented al Qaeda network, but Hizballah’s stranglehold on Lebanon has prompted great concerns about Shiite terrorism.
Hizballah is second only to al Qaeda in the number of American lives it has taken.
The coming DEBKA-Net-Weekly, out this Friday, pinpoints the new centers of Iran-backed Shiite expansion across the Middle East, according to the latest intelligence data prompting Bush’s warning.
To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weekly click <a href="http://www.DEBKA-Net-Weekly.com?ref=001″>HERE.
The US president pleaded with Americans to give his new Iraq strategy a chance to work. America must succeed in Iraq, he said. The US must be less dependent on foreign oil and therefore less vulnerable to terrorists. The way forward is through technology. Our goal is to reduce gas use in the US by 20% in next 10 years.