Retiring top CIA expert faults Bush for his anti-terrorism actions.

The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) recently retired top expert on radical Islamists has strongly denounced the conduct of U.S. President George W. Bush's "global war on terrorism" and the continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, which he said is "contributing to the violence".

Nakhleh, who, before working for the CIA, taught Middle East politics for some 25 years, also called for Washington to "begin to explore creative ways to engage Iran and bring Iran and Shiite politics to the forefront of our policy in the region." "The growing influence of

Hezbollah, and its leader, Hasan Nasrallah, across the region and within the Sunni street, and the growing regional influence and reach of Iran, are two new realities that we should recognise and engage," he told Harper's editor, Ken Silverstein.

The interview, Nakhleh's first since his retirement, echoes the views of a number of former intelligence officials and career diplomats who have criticised the administration for ignoring their analyses of the dynamics of Middle East politics, particularly their warnings of the challenges Washington would face if it invaded Iraq.

Here is another expert, now free to speak his mind, adding his words to the ones of so many other experts who say that this administration's policies have made us less, not more, safe from terrorism. The only ones who still agree with this White House are the ones who have too much to lose from publicly disagreeing with them.