| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Defendario" |
| Date: |
14 Feb 2007 08:53:57 PM |
| Object: |
National Security Experts Grim on Terror War |
Jim Lobe
*WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (IPS) - A new survey of more than 100 U.S. foreign
policy experts -- both Republicans and Democrats, as well as retired
military and intelligence professionals -- has found deep pessimism over
the "global war on terror" and even deeper pessimism over the war in Iraq. *
According to the survey, the second in the last six months carried out
by Foreign Policy magazine and the Centre for American Progress, two out
of three foreign policy experts oppose President George W. Bush's plans
to increase troop levels in Iraq, while nearly nine out of 10 say the
war there is undermining U.S. national security.
Overall, three out of four respondents disagreed with assertion that
Washington "is winning the war on terror", while 81 percent said the
world is becoming "more dangerous" to the United States and its people.
The survey also found wide, although narrowing differences compared to
six months ago, between expert opinion and the views of the general
public on a range of issues related to Iraq and the war on terrorism.
Experts were significantly more pessimistic that the public at large and
voiced considerably less confidence in the Bush administration's
performance.
The survey, called "The Terrorism Index" and published in the upcoming
issue of Foreign Policy, is based on interviews with former senior
government officials who have served in both Republican and Democratic
administrations, as well as independent analysts, experts and
journalists who have covered national security issues.
Eighty percent of respondents have served in the U.S. government, and
more than half in the executive branch, including in the White House or
in top cabinet posts. Twenty-six percent served in the military and 18
percent in the intelligence community.
As to their political leanings, 30 percent of respondents identified
themselves as "conservative"; 42 percent said they were "moderate"; and
44 percent "liberal". But the survey organisers weighted the results so
that the views of self-described "conservatives" were given equal
representation with those of the "liberals".
When broken down ideologically, 43 percent of the conservatives polled
said they believed the U.S. is winning the war on terror, compared to 50
percent of conservatives who disagreed. Only five percent of both
moderates and liberals said they thought Washington was winning.
By contrast, 46 percent of the general public told interviewers in a Pew
Center for the People & the Press survey conducted last November that
Washington is winning the war on terrorism, although that number has
shrunk to around 33 percent in the most recent polling.
Asked whether they believed Bush had a plan to protect the country from
terrorism, seven out of 10 of the expert respondents -- including nearly
40 percent of the self-described conservatives -- said no. By contrast,
51 percent of the public said last November that Bush does indeed have a
plan.
Experts were particularly pessimistic on Iraq and U.S. policy there.
Eighty-eight percent of the experts said the war is having a negative
impact on U.S. national security.
Asked to rate the administration's job in Iraq on a 10-point scale, 92
percent of respondents -- including 82 percent of conservatives --
described it as below five. Fifty-nine percent of the entire group gave
the administration the lowest possible rating (1-2), including a
plurality of 48 percent of conservatives.
Significantly, among 81 percent of experts who said the world is
becoming "more dangerous" to the U.S., a large plurality identified the
Iraq war as "one principal reason" why. Only six months ago, the reason
most cited by the experts who believed the world was becoming more
dangerous was anger and hostility among Muslims.
Only one-third of the expert pool agreed with the administration's
notion that Iraq has become the "central front on the war on terrorism,"
while two-thirds said they disagreed.
That may help explain why two-thirds of the experts said they disagreed
with Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, but 69 percent said
they favoured adding troops in Afghanistan. In the last six months,
according to the survey, expert confidence about the situation in
Afghanistan has fallen sharply, according to the survey.
Indeed, asked to rate the relative strength of the Taliban in
Afghanistan today compared to one year ago, a total of 83 percent of
experts rated it either "somewhat" (57 percent) or "much stronger" (26
percent).
The experts also rated Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestine's Hamas as
"much" and "somewhat" stronger, respectively, than a year ago. A large
majority (72) percent said they believed that Islamist extremism was
also growing in Western Europe.
The experts also voiced strong concern about Pakistan. Asked to choose
the country most likely to become the next stronghold of al Qaeda,
Pakistan (30 percent) was rated second, just behind Somalia (34 percent,
but that was before Ethiopia's recent military campaign there), and 91
percent of the experts said the U.S. must increase pressure on Pakistan
to crackdown against Taliban and al Qaeda militants in tribal areas
along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Asked to identify the world's most dangerous government, 40 percent of
the experts named Iran, while 35 percent cited North Korea, and nine
percent -- including 14 percent of self-described conservatives --
identified the United States itself.
At the same time, a plurality of 26 percent rated "a denuclearised
Korean Peninsula" as the "most important policy objective" for
Washington to achieve in the next five years. Seventeen percent
identified a stable Iraq as the most important objective, and 12 percent
named stopping Iran's nuclear programme.
North Korea's status at the top of the list may be explained by the
experts' assessment that Pyongyang was significantly more likely to
transfer nuclear technology to terrorists than any other country,
including the two most-often-cited countries, Pakistan and Iran.
The experts voiced little confidence in Bush's ability to address the
challenge posed by Tehran, with 73 percent voiding disapproval of his
performance to date. That, too, was a significantly higher percentage
than the general public's view. Last November, a plurality of 40 percent
of respondents told Pew they approved of Bush's handling of Iran.
Asked to rate the impact of 14 specific policies or actions by the
administration, the experts cited the war in Iraq as the most negative
by far, followed by the detention and treatment of terrorist suspects at
Guantanamo and elsewhere, and U.S. positions during the recent conflict
between Israel and Hezbollah and on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
On the more positive side, experts said the administration had made real
progress in stanching the flow of money to terrorist organisations
around the world and the least progress in public diplomacy.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36549
.
|
|
| User: "PagCal" |
|
| Title: Re: National Security Experts Grim on Terror War |
15 Feb 2007 05:39:08 AM |
|
|
Defendario wrote:
Jim Lobe
*WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (IPS) - A new survey of more than 100 U.S. foreign
policy experts -- both Republicans and Democrats, as well as retired
military and intelligence professionals -- has found deep pessimism over
the "global war on terror" and even deeper pessimism over the war in
Iraq. *
The so called 'war on terror' was a fabrication by the Bush NeoCons, and
just plain doesn't exist.
And, you can't win a war that doesn't exist.
What exists instead, is a bunch of small uncoordinated ultra-right wing
cells who believe in violence as a means to and end.
But all is not lost.
Soft power can be successfully applied against these groups. Too bad the
Bushies never heard of it.
As well, doing simple things like making Ammonium Nitrate unavailable to
the general public, blocking freely available guns, and providing decent
airport security blocks these groups from carrying out their plans.
.
|
|
|
| User: "Defendario" |
|
| Title: Re: National Security Experts Grim on Terror War |
15 Feb 2007 03:49:52 PM |
|
|
PagCal wrote:
Defendario wrote:
Jim Lobe
*WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (IPS) - A new survey of more than 100 U.S. foreign
policy experts -- both Republicans and Democrats, as well as retired
military and intelligence professionals -- has found deep pessimism over
the "global war on terror" and even deeper pessimism over the war in
Iraq. *
The so called 'war on terror' was a fabrication by the Bush NeoCons, and
just plain doesn't exist.
The war in Iraq certainly exists
And, you can't win a war that doesn't exist.
We can't win in Iraq
What exists instead, is a bunch of small uncoordinated ultra-right wing
cells who believe in violence as a means to and end.
The Bushler Cabal?
But all is not lost.
Soft power can be successfully applied against these groups. Too bad the
Bushies never heard of it.
You mean like the "Love thy enemies" kind of soft power?
It doesn't surprise me that Bushler never heard of it.
:-)
As well, doing simple things like making Ammonium Nitrate unavailable to
the general public, blocking freely available guns, and providing decent
airport security blocks these groups from carrying out their plans.
Living in a post-Cold War police state doesn't seem like much of a
solution. In my day we recognized the possibility of someone doing
something crazy, and dealt with it as an acceptable cost of freedom.
Todays generation give up their freedoms for security, deserve neither
and will lose both.
Pathetic.
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "docremington" |
|
| Title: Re: National Security Experts Grim on Terror War |
15 Feb 2007 08:29:58 AM |
|
|
PagCal wrote:
Defendario wrote:
drivel
The so called 'war on terror' was a fabrication by the Bush NeoCons, and
just plain doesn't exist.
And, you can't win a war that doesn't exist.
So, what's all that fuming about something, that does not exist?
.
|
|
|
| User: "Defendario" |
|
| Title: Re: National Security Experts Grim on Terror War |
15 Feb 2007 03:50:55 PM |
|
|
docremington aka docdhimmi wrote:
So, what's all that<smak>
When I want your opinion I'll beat it out of you, Dhimmi
;D
.
|
|
|
| User: "docremington" |
|
| Title: Re: National Security Experts Grim on Terror War |
15 Feb 2007 05:09:03 PM |
|
|
Defendario wrote:
docremington aka docdhimmi wrote:
So, what's all that<smak>
When I want your opinion I'll beat it out of you, Dhimmi
There goes a religion of peace.
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
