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http://www.alternet.org/story/48277/

February 21, 2007

Bush Is Badly Screwing Up the War on Terror

By Robert Parry, Consortium News.

Al-Qaeda's resurgence in new Pakistani strongholds is the latest sign
that George W. Bush is losing the 'Global War on Terror' and has
become a dangerous liability to the American people.


Despite the sacrifices in lives, treasure and liberties, the painful
reality is that the United States is losing the "war on terror" -- in
large part because too many people in the Middle East and across the
globe view George W. Bush as a bully and a hypocrite.

Bush has become the ugly face of America, mouthing pretty words about
freedom and democracy while threatening other nations and bludgeoning
those who get in his way.

Perhaps even worse, Bush has shown himself to be an incompetent
commander, especially for a conflict as complicated and nuanced as
this one.

Indeed, it is hard to envision how the United States can win the
crucial battles for the hearts and minds of key populations if Bush
remains President.

Arguably, Bush has become a "clear and present danger" to the
interests of the American people -- yet he still has almost two years
left in his term.

This predicament -- the desperate need for new U.S. leadership and the
difficult fact of being stuck with Bush -- was underscored by the Feb.
19 lead article in the New York Times describing the revival of
al-Qaeda as a worldwide terror network operating out of new bases in
remote sections of Pakistan.

"American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin
Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had been steadily building an
operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North
Waziristan," the Times reported.

"As recently as 2005, American intelligence assessments described
senior leaders of al-Qaeda as cut off from their foot soldiers and
able only to provide inspiration for future attacks. But more recent
intelligence describes the organization's hierarchy as intact and
strengthening," the Times wrote.

The Times quoted one American government official as saying "the chain
of command has been reestablished" and that al-Qaeda's "leadership
command and control is robust."

In the face of this al-Qaeda comeback, the Bush administration is
reportedly debating whether to launch military strikes inside
Pakistan.

But that would risk destabilizing the dictatorship of Gen. Pervez
Musharraf and conceivably provoking the nightmare scenario of Islamic
fundamentalists gaining control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

In other words, more than five years into the "war on terror," Bush
has overseen a strategy that has simultaneously alienated world public
opinion -- with scandals over Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and secret
CIA prisons -- while fueling Islamic extremism and giving new life to
the 9/11 masterminds.

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group described the situation in Iraq as
"grave and deteriorating."

But the same description would fit for the broader strategic position
of the United States in the Middle East.

The U.S. military is facing a worsening crisis in Iraq;

the Taliban is on the rise again in Afghanistan;

Hezbollah is gaining strength in Lebanon;

Iran is defying international pressure over its nuclear program;

and now al-Qaeda -- having resettled in Pakistan -- is rebuilding its
capability to strike targets beyond the Middle East.

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Can't screw up much worse than that.

Harry