Why the Bush Administration is losing the "War on Terror"
With the new year, I think it necessary to look back on the claims of the Bush administration concerning the "war on terror".
After the failure to find ANY WMD's in Iraq, the Bush administration changed its rationale for the invasion of Iraq to that of it being a key front in the "war on terror"...We were "Fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here.
In a bipartisan survey of some 100 of America's top foreign policy experts, the overwhelming majority believe that the policies pursued by the Bush administration with regards to combating terrorism and securing America are failing. 84% of respondents believe the US IS NOT winning the "war on terror", and 86% believe that Americas face increasing danger around the world.
The April 2006 NIE, page 2, concludes the following:
"...the Iraq conflict has has become a 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding deep resentment of US involvement of the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement..."
Far from making the world a safer place, the invasion and occupation of Iraq has been a boon to the jihadist movement in general and Al Qaeda in particular. It took a country that posed little or no terrorist threat to America or its allies and turned into a threat of major proportions, threatening the stability of the entire region. The invasion and occupation also made a shambles of what little pre-war planning was done by the Bush administration by spawning a tenacious insurgency that has tied down troops in far greater number than ever anticipated by the Bush administration.
The invasion and occupation of Iraq has attracted foreign fighters like flies to crap. Contrary to what one might think, these are not seasoned terrorist fighters, rather they are new recruits drawn to the jihadist movement by the invasion and occupation of Iraq. A 2005 study indicated that the vast majority of these foreign fighters had no previous links to terrorism, and were radicalized by the invasion of a Muslim nation that posed no credible or immediate threat to the US. And there is no indication that his trend has reversed itself. And while driving the Taliban and Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan shut down their training operations there, the invasion and occupation of Iraq provided live fire training to new recruits to the jihadist movement. This is giving rise to a whole new breed of terrorists who have sophisticated training in demolitions, linguistic skills and insurgency tactics and loosed them on the world.
Despite the claims of the Bush administration that the "war on terror" is being won, terrorist attacks around the world have increased since the invasion and occupation of Iraq, increasing some fourfold in 2005 and another 25% in 2006with the numbers for 2007 set to outstrip even those.
Bush's belief that "...We are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here at home..." ignores a few obvious facts, not the least of which being that if we had not invaded and occupied Iraq, the insurgents in that benighted country and many of the foreign fighters would not be fighting us at all...either here or there. The resources expended in Iraq, in terms of blood and treasure, could have been applied to hounding Al Qaeda out of existence, protecting our borders and ports, protecting nuclear weapons sites in the former Soviet Union and rebuilding Afghanistan to reduce the liklihood of the terrorist resurgence we see happening there now.
The policies pursued by the Bush administration since 9/11 have done little to secure either America or the world from terrorism. Instead they have helped fan the flames of jihadist fanaticism, leading to an increased threat to America and the world. The policies pursued by the Bush administration are losing the "war on terror" for America.
Other Sources:
How America Created a Terrorist Haven
Study cites seeds of terror in Iraq
Terrorist Attacks Rose Sharply in 2005, State Dept. Says
Terror attacks worldwide rose 25 percent in ’06
