Bush critics conclude U.S. is losing war on terrorism

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N0137584.htm

Bush critics conclude U.S. is losing war on terrorism


WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - U.S. terrorism experts Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon have reached a stark conclusion about the war on terrorism: the United States is losing.

Despite an early victory over the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, the two former Clinton administration officials say President George W. Bush's policies have created a new haven for terrorism in Iraq that escalates the potential for Islamic violence against Europe and the United States.

America's badly damaged image in the Muslim world could take more than a generation to set right. And Bush's mounting political woes at home have undermined the chance for any bold U.S. initiatives to address the grim social realities that feed Islamic radicalism, they say.

"It's been fairly disastrous," said Benjamin, who worked as a director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council from 1994 to 1999.

[termo]

1. it is not really an LBN...

it was forseen.

[Nite Owl]

2. These are experts?

We could have told them a long time ago.

[EFerrari]

3. The cons are so bad at governing, they're even losing

a fictitious war. I don't think it can get worse than that.

[underpants]

6. That's funny. I am reminded of the State Dept 2003 assessment

BEST YEAR EVER (meaning not as many terrorist attacks) WE ARE WINNING!!!

Rep.Waxman's office pointed out that they should maybe take another look at those numbers....

Next day-State Dept. reissues report....WORST year ever. Ooops sorry about that (they were more upset that anyone noticed).

[wookie294]

10. Global terrorism TRIPLED in 2004

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. count of major world terrorist attacks more than tripled in 2004, a rise that may revive debate on whether the Bush administration is winning the war on terrorism, congressional aides said on Tuesday.

The number of "significant" international terrorist attacks rose to about 650 last year from about 175 in 2003, according to congressional aides briefed on the numbers by U.S. State Department and intelligence officials on Monday.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26522556.htm

[EFerrari]

24. And Haliburton licked its lips. Mission accomplished. n/t

[EFerrari]

16. Exactly! Who are we at war with today?

:)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

31. Everything in a nutshell.

[gratuitous]

4. Thanks Danny, Stevie, you can go back to sleep now

The grown-ups have already figured this out. Hell, there was a pretty big contingent of us who saw it coming before the first bomb was dropped or the first IED blew one of ours to Kingdom Come.

The prospect of the invasion of Iraq actually being a "victory" or any kind of long-term good had about as much chance of you winning the $310 million Powerball lottery. And how'd you boys do in that?

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. I have to wonder if AQ is deliberately refraining from mounting

attacks on the US. As long as * is in power and working actively to alienate the world Muslim population from the US, it works to AQ's advantage. If there was a successful attack on the US, the 50+% of Americans that cling to the notion that when it comes to the "war on terror" * is doing well, his numbers would plummet there as well. So to keep up their propagandizing they need to keep * in power.

I get the feeling that they are playing chess while * is playing checkers.

[opihimoimoi]

7. The Rat Bite approach is what AQ is using...small bites are better than

big fights...

Bushies fight is so OUTMODED its pathetic...They are flummoxed...

[wookie294]

13. I think you're right

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114489,00.html

Islamists Declare Spain Truce, Endorse Bush
(...)
The statement tells American voters that Abu Hafs al-Masri supports the re-election campaign of President Bush: "We are very keen that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections."

The statement said Abu Hafs al-Masri needs what it called Bush's "idiocy and religious fanaticism" because they would "wake up" the Islamic world.

[54anickel]

32. AQ doesn't have to attack. Bush is doing more damage than they

any attack they could mount. He is winning this "jihad" for them. Anyone remember what some of OBL's demands were early on?

US troops out of Saudi Arabia - check
Saddam ousted from Iraq - check
A sovereign Palestine - coming right up

[TrogL]

8. Losing it? They're CAUSING terrorism.

[wookie294]

9. Why do you hate America ?

hehehe

[populistdriven]

11. I wish Move On would broadcast this nationwide - its the last vestige of

support * has - 60+% of people think * is doing a good job on terror.

[54anickel]

12. Irriating headline, "Bush critics" are actually terrorism experts. So, is

it actually Bush who is the expert if these guys are simply critics? :shakeshead:

[leesa]

19. No. No. No. They are TERRORISTS. Remember, if you are AGAINST

the Fuhrer, you are FOR the terrorists.

[rodeodance]

22. sigh!

[rodeodance]

23. yes, when say bush critices--it does take the punch out of the story.

[cliss]

14. Why are we losing the "war" on terror?

Answer = because we're not fighting a war on terror. We're actually doing other things, like occupying a country, in order to keep its petroleum reserves, keeping the locals in line.

This is a smokescreen.

[LynnTheDem]

15. Huh...now why would anyone think that???

Worldwide terrorism-related deaths on the rise
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5889435%20 /

US Losing the War on Terror in Iraq; The invasion of Iraq has increased, not decreased. the threat of terrorist attack
http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article2629.html

Occupation Made World Less Safe, Pro-War Institute Says
http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/terrorwar/analysis/2004/0526iissreport.htm

Iraq Invasion Hurt War on Terror
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0719-10.htm

Musharraf: World more dangerous because of Iraq War
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/25/03544/7945

Blix Says Iraq War May Have Worsened Terror Threat
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0319-02.htm

Poll: Aussies, Brits, Italians say Iraq war increased terrorism
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/5027215.html

Iraq intervention increased threat of terrorism
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/archive/scoop/stories/c7/9d/200409100845.68f9c878.html

UK Government; Iraq war 'increased terror threat'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3451239.stm

Iraq war has swollen ranks of al Qaeda
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1063717,00.html

US State Department Corrects Report to Show Rise in Terrorism
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5264512 /

Iraq has become a terrorist spawning ground, CIA admits
http://www.smh.com.au/news/After-Saddam/Iraq-a-terrorist-spawning-ground-CIA-admits/2005/02/17/1108609349394.html?oneclick=true

Iraq Conflict Feeds International Terror Threat
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050216/us_nm/security_usa_dc_9

Iraq now a terror training center
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/canada_security_canada_iraq_col

[rodeodance]

18. i am glad to see the headline from Reuters!!--not just losing Iraq war but

terrow war!!


Benjamin and Simon's criticism of the Bush administration in Iraq follows a path similar to those of other critics, including former U.S. national security adviser Brent Scowcroft and former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke.

"We may be attacked by terrorists who receive their training in Iraq, or attacked by terrorists who were inspired, organized and trained by people who were in Iraq," said Simon, a Rand Corp. analyst who teaches at Georgetown University.

"(Bush) has given them an excellent American target in Iraq but in the process has energized the jihad and given militants the kind of urban warfare experience that will raise the future threat to the United States exponentially."

For Benjamin and Simon, the war on terrorism has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and failed to counter a deadly global movement responsible for attacks in London, Madrid, Bali, Indonesia, and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
....

[EVDebs]

37. But but but the M/I-congressional complex thrives on it

Mammon is their god. By their fruits ye shall know them ! MSM can't h

ide their lack of light, which doesn't so shine as a beacon on a hill

The military industrial congressional complex wanted this quagmire.

[leesa]

17. Duh. Do they get paid for these 'insights'?

[rodeodance]

20. nominated ---spread this far and wide.

[rodeodance]

21. kick again

[Briar]

25. Bush's response was disastrous from the start

You can't fight a war against an abstract noun. Bush's strutting might have impressed Americans post 9/11 as "decisive", they might (as the BBC believes) have been glad he was there to galvanise the national response, but in fact it was a catastrophe. A phoney war turned itself into an illegal invasion of a country completely disconnected with the atrocities of 9/11 and tore up the rule of international law and divided the world. As a consequence, terror is flourishing, not diminishing.

[jwirr]

26. Well, when you haven't found the one man who we know

was a terrorist leader and we are creating hundreds, if not thousands in the Middle East every day, I would say we are not winning.

[Judi Lynn]

27. US 'losing war' on terrorism

US 'losing war' on terrorism

By David Morgan

November 02, 2005

WASHINGTON: US terrorism experts Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon have reached a stark conclusion about the war on terrorism: the United States is losing.

Despite an early victory over the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, the two former Clinton administration officials say President George W Bush's policies have created a new haven for terrorism in Iraq that escalates the potential for Islamic violence against Europe and the United States.

The US's badly damaged image in the Muslim world could take more than a generation to set right. And Bush's mounting political woes at home have undermined the chance for any bold US initiatives to address the grim social realities that feed Islamic radicalism, they say.

"It's been fairly disastrous," said Benjamin, who worked as a director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council from 1994 to 1999.
(snip/...)

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,17114942-5001027,00.html

[phusion]

28. Didn't Bush say

that the "war on terra" is "basically unwinnable" or something like that?

[BootinUp]

29. He also said they will hate us

long after Iraq is no longer an excuse.

[yurbud]

30. Just like Wag the Dog--it's hard to refute a lie about your phony war

[54anickel]

33. Sheesh, with Karen Hughes at the helm I think were looking at more than

a generation to repair the damaged image of the US. So far she's accomplished nothing more than moving the goal post further out.

The US's badly damaged image in the Muslim world could take more than a generation to set right.

[ngGale]

34. *LIGHT BULB* - Ya think?...n/t

[Cults4Bush]

35. When will our elected officials realize this and bring them home?!

Its like the worst vicous circle ever and it plays out day after day online and on tv. We launched an illegal and unjustified war and occupation on a sovereign nation, the guys we should have gone after are now inside that nation because we are and they are recruiting and training thousands more terrorists. Which makes the whole argument of needing to stay just absolutely ludicrous.

Yes lets stay and train more terrorists who will attack our allies on their own shores, lets stay so they continue to have reasons to blow up little children, lets stay so we can prove they were right and we look like the crusaders of old. Lets send more troops over so there are more targets and reasons for more recruitment and lets not forget the top notch training these terrorists are getting!! Oh and while we are at the big time bonus??? we get to learn how to uneffectivelt torture the shit out of innocent people! Now if that aint great fro Pax Americana I dont know what is.

Who knows what and where the insurgents will turn to for aid as the years wear on (I delineate between AQ and insurgents.. you should too). A war by proxy for one of our former nemesis? China? Russia?...

Get a clue and wake up, we are the bad guys no matter how good our intentions. The enemy is us, the violence will continue to escalate over time not just in Iraq but across the world as those terrorists get reassigned to other countries after they are done with their training and tour in Iraq.

Bring them home now, our troops are like individual grains of salt in the very serious wounding of Iraq.

[goforit]

36. And just keep sending our youth into death traps the answer , eh?

[makeanoise]

38. We will never WIN the so-called war on terrorism...

We cannot, it's logicaly impossible, don't you agree?

That's like saying we are going to end MURDERS, HOMICIDES, RAPES...
That can't happen, it's impossible..

We can get some damn leadership in the White House and hopefully reduce the amount, but we will never be able to totally stop it...

Ther are always going to be extremists and crazies out there...
One is in Washington D.C. right now that I know of...

So duh!, yeah we're losing the war on terrorism because we can't win...