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[Published, Financial Times, August 16, 2007]
Sir, David Gardner's article "Lost in Iraq: the illusion of an American strategy" (August 10) adds to the growing, compelling confirmation, including from US government insiders, that, despite all the claims to the contrary, President George W. Bush's policies in the "global war on terror", including (with his British allies) the invasion and occupation of Iraq, have in fact increased the forces making for global terrorism, paradoxically making the world less safe for all concerned.
Mr Gardner's article also reinforces the growing realisation that the Americans, British and others can be graded on what we might call an ideology/intelligence index, measured as a ratio between accepting the truthfulness of a proposition based on its being in accord with one's belief/value system (ideology) versus accepting the truthfulness of the proposition based on the results of a systematic, rigorous test of its validity (intelligence).
Staunch supporters of Mr Bush's policies tend to fall into the ideology category, while Mr Gardner and a growing number of other commentators, recognising the rhetoric/reality disconnect tendencies inherent in the Bush presidency, fall into the intelligence category.
For purposes of enhanced global security and stability, one can only hope that a tipping point is in the process of reaching "take-off" and that the outcome of the 2008 US presidential elections will start to undo the costs of what is perhaps the most lethal policy catastrophe in US history. In this regard, more articles like Mr Gardner's can only help!
Dennis J.D. Sandole,
Professor of Conflict Resolution and International Relations,
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution,
George Mason University,
Arlington, VA 22201, US
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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