Iraq war backfiring on US -- Rant -N- Rave "UNCENSORED" Current Events Forum

VoyCabulary is another innovative service from the folks at Voyager Info-Systems

[ VoyUser Login optional ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, [10] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 05:11:20 06/30/06 Fri
Author: Ry
Subject: Iraq war backfiring on US

THE United States is losing its fight against terrorism and the Iraq war is the main reason, more than 80 per cent of American terrorism and national security experts have said in a survey.

One expert, former CIA official Michael Scheuer, said the war in Iraq had provided global terrorist groups with a recruiting bonanza and a valuable training ground.

"The war in Iraq broke our back in the war on terror," said Mr Scheuer, author of Imperial Hubris, a book highly critical of the Bush Administration's anti-terrorism efforts. "It has made everything more difficult and the threat more existential."

Mr Scheuer, a former CIA counter-terrorism expert, is one of more than 100 national security and terrorism analysts surveyed in the poll by Foreign Policy magazine and the Centre for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank headed by John Podesta, a White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration.

Of the experts surveyed, 45 identified themselves as liberals, 40 said they were moderates and 31 called themselves conservatives. The pollsters weighted the responses so that the percentage results reflected one-third participation by each group.

Asked whether the US was winning the war on terror, 84 per cent said no and 13 per cent answered yes. Asked whether the war in Iraq was helping or hurting the global anti-terrorism campaign, 87 per cent said it was undermining those efforts.

A similar number, 86 per cent, said the world was becoming more dangerous for the US.

The views of the analysts were starkly at odds with those espoused by President George Bush. He has repeatedly expressed confidence in US progress in the anti-terrorism campaign and often asserts that the war to depose Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq is not only a vital part of this mission but that Iraq has become the central front in that campaign.

The public gives Mr Bush higher marks in this effort than the policy experts.

In an ABC News- Washington Post poll last week, 57 per cent of respondents said America's efforts to fight terrorism were going well; 41 per cent said they were not going well. In the same poll, 59 per cent said the country was safer from terrorism today than it was before the attacks of September 11, 2001, while 33 per cent said the country was less safe.

One participant in the Foreign Policy-Centre for American Progress poll of experts, retired army colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, said the US military deserved credit for actions in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world meant to disrupt terrorist operations.

But he criticised the Bush Administration for what he called an over-reliance on the military in the anti-terrorism campaign. Like many other analysts polled, Colonel Wilkerson stressed the need to increase US diplomacy and other sources of so-called "soft power" to help win Muslim hearts and minds.

"Bombs, bullets and bayonets are not the answer to this problem," said Colonel Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to Colin Powell while he was the secretary of state during Mr Bush's first term.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

[ VoyUser Login ] Not required to post.
Post a public reply to this message | Go post a new public message
* Notice: Posting problems? [ Click here ]
* HTML allowed in marked fields.
Post Password:
Keep password cookie for 24 hours

Message subject (required):

Name (required):

E-mail address (optional):

* Type your message here:
>THE United States is losing its fight against >terrorism and the Iraq war is the main reason, more >than 80 per cent of American terrorism and national >security experts have said in a survey. > >One expert, former CIA official Michael Scheuer, said >the war in Iraq had provided global terrorist groups >with a recruiting bonanza and a valuable training >ground. > >"The war in Iraq broke our back in the war on terror," >said Mr Scheuer, author of Imperial Hubris, a book >highly critical of the Bush Administration's >anti-terrorism efforts. "It has made everything more >difficult and the threat more existential." > >Mr Scheuer, a former CIA counter-terrorism expert, is >one of more than 100 national security and terrorism >analysts surveyed in the poll by Foreign Policy >magazine and the Centre for American Progress, a >left-leaning think tank headed by John Podesta, a >White House chief of staff in the Clinton >administration. > >Of the experts surveyed, 45 identified themselves as >liberals, 40 said they were moderates and 31 called >themselves conservatives. The pollsters weighted the >responses so that the percentage results reflected >one-third participation by each group. > >Asked whether the US was winning the war on terror, 84 >per cent said no and 13 per cent answered yes. Asked >whether the war in Iraq was helping or hurting the >global anti-terrorism campaign, 87 per cent said it >was undermining those efforts. > >A similar number, 86 per cent, said the world was >becoming more dangerous for the US. > >The views of the analysts were starkly at odds with >those espoused by President George Bush. He has >repeatedly expressed confidence in US progress in the >anti-terrorism campaign and often asserts that the war >to depose Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq is not only >a vital part of this mission but that Iraq has become >the central front in that campaign. > >The public gives Mr Bush higher marks in this effort >than the policy experts. > >In an ABC News- Washington Post poll last week, 57 per >cent of respondents said America's efforts to fight >terrorism were going well; 41 per cent said they were >not going well. In the same poll, 59 per cent said the >country was safer from terrorism today than it was >before the attacks of September 11, 2001, while 33 per >cent said the country was less safe. > >One participant in the Foreign Policy-Centre for >American Progress poll of experts, retired army >colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, said the US military >deserved credit for actions in Afghanistan and >elsewhere around the world meant to disrupt terrorist >operations. > >But he criticised the Bush Administration for what he >called an over-reliance on the military in the >anti-terrorism campaign. Like many other analysts >polled, Colonel Wilkerson stressed the need to >increase US diplomacy and other sources of so-called >"soft power" to help win Muslim hearts and minds. > >"Bombs, bullets and bayonets are not the answer to >this problem," said Colonel Wilkerson, who served as >chief of staff to Colin Powell while he was the >secretary of state during Mr Bush's first term.
Choose Message Icon: [ View Emoticons ]

Notice: Copies of your message may remain on this and other systems on internet. Please be respectful.

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 2.94, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums^(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2008 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.