Are We Safer? Five Years After the September 11th Attacks: Assessing the U.S. Security Situation and Alternatives for Moving Forward
An Anthology of National Security Essays, September 2006. Nine essays and assessments published by the Security Policy Working Group addressing the security situation five years after 9/11.
Pyrrhus on the Potomac: How America's post-9/11 wars have undermined US national security (full text .html) (printable full text .pdf) by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Report #18, 05 September 2006.
A net assessment of America's post-911 security policy shows it to be "pyrrhic" in character: although progress has been made in disrupting Al Qaeda, the broader effect of recent policies has been to increase the threat to the United States, while weakening the nation's capacity to respond effectively. Sections address the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, military readiness, the advance of political Islam, and changes in world opinion. Includes recommendations for a new course.
Appendix
Fighting on Borrowed Time: The Effect on US Military Readiness of America's post-9/11 Wars (full text .html) (printable full text .pdf) by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Report #19, 11 September 2006.
To sustain today's wars, the Bush administration has adopted a policy of "risk displacement". High optempo is maintained in Iraq and Afghanistan at the expense of readiness elsewhere and for other missions. The policy also saps future readiness. It may take the US armed forces half a decade to recover -- once today's war conclude.
