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Topic: Foreign Policy Experts: US Less Safe Than Before
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| keltoi2 | Posted – 8/20/2007 5:56:28 PM | show profile More than 90 percent of 108 polled US foreign policy experts, including former military leaders, administration officials, and diplomats, believe the world has grown more dangerous for Americans and the US, according to a survey in Foreign Policy, and more than half oppose the Iraq surge, believing it is making things worse. This from David Morgan of Reuters: Foreign Policy said seven of 10 experts supported the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq. Experts have increasingly cited the war as the root cause of what they believe to be U.S. failure to win in its war on terrorism. Ninety-one percent of those polled said the world has grown more dangerous for Americans and the United States, up 10 percent from February. More than 80 percent of the experts said they expected another September 11-scale attack on the United States over the next decade, despite what they described as significant improvements among U.S. security, law enforcement and intelligence agencies. A decade from now, the Middle East still will be reeling from the ill-effects of the Iraq war, particularly heightened Sunni-Shi'ite tensions in the region, 58 percent said. Thirty-five percent believed Arab dictators will have been discouraged from pursuing political reforms as a result. Only 3 percent believed the United States will achieve its goal of rebuilding Iraq into a beacon of democracy within the next 10 years. |
| keltoi2 | Posted – 8/20/2007 6:05:49 PM | show profile More, from AFP's reporting of the survey: Sixty-two percent said instability was likely to spread beyond Iraq's borders, and 76 percent said Iran was likely to step into the power vacuum left by the United States. Ninety-two percent said Iraqis were unlikely to resolve their differences and move toward a democracy, 86 percent believed that militias would break the country into warring provinces, and 84 percent said "a bloody civil war would rage out of control." Only 12 percent thought that attacks on the United States would be a direct result of a US withdrawal, and 63 percent said Al-Qaeda was unlikely to establish a headquarters in Iraq. But 73 percent said Iraqi security forces also were unlikely to defeat Al-Qaeda and drive it from Iraq, and 59 percent thought it likely that Al-Qaeda would emerge globally strengthened by a US withdrawal. The respondents rated the US administration's handling of the war in Iraq at only 2.9 on a 10-point scale. Ninety-two percent said the war on Iraq has had a very negative or somewhat negative impact on US national security goals. The survey found that the experts see growing dangers on a range of other fronts as well -- Iran's nuclear program, the proliferation of nuclear and biological weapons, the competition for resources, weak and failing states, and terrorist networks. More experts thought Pakistan was more likely to transfer nuclear technology to terrorists over the next three to five years than North Korea, Russia or Iran. Pakistan also was chosen by most experts as the country most likely to become the next Al-Qaeda stronghold. |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 8/20/2007 10:30:22 PM | show profile Little W and big Dick blew it in a big big way. |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 8/20/2007 11:49:08 PM | show profile Good thing Pakistan doesn't have nuclear weapons. Oh wait. Shit. |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 8/20/2007 11:57:06 PM | show profile It seems it's just a matter of time before terrorists get their hands on nuclear weapons, whether from Pakistan or wherever. Which is terrifying because what will happen to the world if a nuclear weapon is detonated in an American city like New York? Look at how much the world changed after 9/11 when 3,000 people died. What will it be like if 3 million die? That would most likely be the beginning of the end of the world. |
| keltoi | Posted – 8/21/2007 12:09:12 AM | show profile Just like Pakistans top nuke guy "accidentally" funneled all those nuke secrets to Libya and North Korea a few years back and got a slap on the wrist in Pakistan. |
| Bleak Spouse | Posted – 8/21/2007 6:59:43 PM | show profile yeah, Dr. A.Q. Kahn. The U.S. needs Musharraf so they let him give Kahn a slap on the wrist since the people of Pakistan wouldn't tolerate anything more than that, cause Kahn is a hero for being the creator of the Islamic Bomb. There's really not a whole lot that can be done to prevent nukes from getting into the hands of terrorists other than crossing your fingers. In general, if you don't want to die in a nuclear blast, I think it's a good idea not to live in NYC or DC these days. |
