• Senate panel's report says most severe challenges were expected
• Intel predicted factional fighting, insurgency and al Qaeda and Iran roles
• Bush says he made decisions taking all information into account
• Shiite cleric al-Sadr urges his militia to stop fighting fellow Iraqis
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, U.S. intelligence predicted many of the current challenges there, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation report released Friday.
Those predicted -- and realized -- problems included an increase in al Qaeda operations, sectarian violence within Iraq and Iran's efforts to shape Iraq's future after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
Intelligence analysts also predicted that establishing a stable democracy in Iraq would be a "long, difficult and probably turbulent challenge," the report said.
Noting that prewar Iraq was a "deeply divided society," intelligence warned that Shiite reprisals for their oppression under Hussein's regime would be a "major concern to the Sunni elite and could erupt if not prevented by an occupying force," the report said.
U.S. occupation of Iraq could lead to increased terror attacks and operations by al Qaeda, which was judged likely to seize the opportunity presented by the occupation, the intelligence community said, according to the report.
In addition, the report said, a U.S. occupation of Iraq "probably would result in a surge of political Islam and increased funding for terrorist groups."
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