is Bush winning the War On Terror??

Question

The Phony War
Quote

President Bush not only created a fake "War on Terror" to scare voters into supporting his policies -- he is failing to address the real threat facing America


****An absolute must-read. The actual article is far too long to post in full, but here is a gem from the opening paragraphs....

Fortunately, Wehner added, the country has a leader who knows exactly how to combat terrorism: "George W. Bush understands, with extraordinary clarity, the great struggle of our time."

The problem is, almost everything that President Bush understands about his own war on terrorism is wrong. According to nearly a dozen former high-ranking officials who have been on the front lines of the administration's counterterrorism effort, the president is not only fighting the wrong war -- he is fighting it in a way that has actually made the threat worse. The war on terrorism, they say, has been mismanaged and misdirected almost from the start, in no small part because the president simply does not understand the nature of the enemy he is fighting.

"I hate the term 'global war on terrorism,' " says John O. Brennan, a CIA veteran who served as the first director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the primary organization set up by Bush to analyze all intelligence about terrorism and coordinate strategic operational planning. "I hate the tough talk, you know, the 'we're gonna kill these guys' stuff."

Brennan is not alone. In a survey conducted this summer, more than 100 top foreign-policy experts -- including former secretaries of state, CIA directors and high-ranking Pentagon officials -- were asked if the president is "winning the War on Terror." Eighty-four percent said no.

Read the entire article here [link to www.rollingstone.com]

Answer 1

We can never win the war on terror, it is a war against an idea not a country and all we are doing is recruiting for the terrorist. It would make more sense to make the effort to shore up our defenses and protect the country from terrorist through good intelligence rather then go to war with somebody that had nothing to do with Al Quieda.

Answer 2

The war isn't over yet, which means the winner is still unknown. Like most wars, some battles are won; some battles are lost. Overall it would be fair to say that Bush is slightly ahead in the war on terror.

Certainly Osama Bin Laden has made little progress on his main goal, which was the overthrow of corrupt governments in the Mid-East to be replaced by the caliphate spanning the entire Ottoman Empire of old.

There are now two fledgling democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan that are not out of the woods yet, but are cause for tempered optimism.

The Sunnis brutally suppressed the Shiite in Iraq for decades so it will take some time for the revenge and counter revenge to play out.

But most importantly, Bush has secured coorperation from both the Saudis and the Pakistanis in this war on terrorists.

Because Bush's goal has been containment, it has to be judged a success. Because OBL's goal was expansion and restructuring of the political map of the mid east it has to be judged a failure.

Of course the tactics and execution of the American military campaign could have been crisper. The acsendency of Iran as a hegemonic power in the region is troublesome.

But at the same time the war is being won. However, it is not being won as quickly as the US elctorate might like, and it is not being won without casualties, so the Bush adminsitration has attracted a lot of criticism.

But is Bush winning the war on terror: Yes he is!

Answer 3

it relatively is puzzling to win any guerrilla variety war the place the enemy is puzzling to locate by using fact they merge with the final inhabitants. yet, i've got confidence President Bush has made progression against the Islam extremists, and the region contained in the middle east has more advantageous. Iran maintains to be a difficulty and that i've got confidence will stay so till the present regime is ousted. I even have confidence that if an purpose analysis is finished with reference to the middle east, the end results of President Bush's movements would be constructive, inspite of the adverse happenings that are emphasised via the liberal press.

Answer 4

If you feel this is a "fake war," talk to the surviving families of 9/11 victims, or those is Madrid, or in Bangkok, or all of the other places in the world the terrorists are killing Innocent people. Go to Iran and sing the Israeli national anthem. Do you EVER watch the news on anything other than the left wing networks? This is NOT about getting votes. We are gaining, but winning is still a long way off. The problem is, we are constrained by world opinion. If we were allowed to FIGHT A WAR, instead of playing tag by the other guy's rules (terrorists), we would have had this mess over years ago. But NOOOOO, we have to let them stand in cemeteries while they will, and do, kill anywhere and everywhere. If you hate this "We're gonna kill these guys" talk, you must be referring to the Islamist terrorists. THEY want to kill everyone who is NOT Muslim. Go, get them to stop attacking everybody else. Then we may have peace. Until then, unless you WANT to have to wear a beard or vale, vigilance and courage alone will keep us free. Besides, if you listen to those pot heads at "Rolling Stone" you NEED to go to Iran to get clean and sober.

Answer 5

Com on like u cannot erase poverty from the face of the earth, similarly u cannot put and end to terrorism. How can this joker win the war against terror. He is complicating things, that's it.

Answer 6

He can't and isn't winning the "war on terror". Since he declared war on the terrorists, an absurd notion really, there have been drastic increases all over the world in terrorists acts. I would consider that losing.

Answer 7

I never understood how we can be a war with Terror??? I mean we might as well be at war with Happiness, or Sadness, or depression. Give me a break you can't have a war against a feeling or idea.

Answer 8

all you libs are crazy how can you say he started the war they have been at war with us for along time they attacked us in 1993 at the wtc and the USS Cole and our embassy's Bill Clinton just didn't want to fight back

Answer 9

He's succeeding in spreading terror all over the world.