The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

30 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 T HREE YEARS AFTER THE 9/11 ATTACKS , THE THREAT FROM TERRORISM IS GROWING , NOT RECEDING . I T IS TIME FOR A REAPPRAISAL OF OUR STRATEGY . B Y P HILIP C. W ILCOX J R . F O C U S O N C O U N T E R T E R R O R I S M A RE W E L OSING THE W AR ON T ERRORISM ? he “war on terrorism,” the centerpiece of George W. Bush’s presidency, is going badly. Incidents of worldwide terrorism have actually increased since Sept. 11, 2001. Islamic terrorists have become an even more for- midable enemy. The war in Iraq, based in part on the false premise that Saddam Hussein posed a terrorist threat to the U.S., has squandered international sympathy won after 9/11, shortchanged U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and provoked rising anger in the Arab and Muslim world. Worse yet, the war, seen by Muslims world- wide as a war against Islam, has created a new hotbed of anti-American terrorism and has swelled the ranks of radical jihadis throughout the world. T Phil Foster