The Center for American progress, in conjunction with Foreign Policy magazine, polled 100 top foreign policy experts, Republican and Democratic alike, on how the War on Terror is going. The answer is...not well. Not well at all. 84% disagree that America is winning the war on terror. 91 percent believe the world is becoming more dangerous for us. Experts give us low ratings on handling iraq, Afghanistan, public diplomacy, energy security, democracy promotion, failed states, nuclear non-proliferation, helping Pakistan stabilize against terrorists, etc, etc, etc. In short, we're performing awfully at just about everything.
And yet, where are these analysts? We've got over 100 of them in this survey, and their remarks seem damn near unanimous. Even those identified as conservatives are furious with our performance. Only 20 percent of them believe we're "winning the war on terror," and none of them agree with that statement "strongly." But they're not saying so publicly. You're not seeing hundreds of them at a single event denouncing our mistakes. You're not seeing any serious mobilization against the administration's policies. In short, they're happy to say millions may die in this poll, but not hurt some feelings -- and possibly blunt some careers -- by doing the hard work required to change the country's course. And God knows Giuliani has suffered no public sanction for hiring every discredited neocon he could find. It's deeply irresponsible.
