IISS Report: US Policies Pay Off
Charles Johnson
Wed May 25, 2005 at 11:19 am PDT • Views: 237
The Amnesty International report condemning the US and Israel comes the day after another report (a report that mainstream media in both Britain and the US almost totally ignored), from the often-critical International Institute for Strategic Studies: US policies pay off in global security, says think-tank. (Hat tip: Scott.)
LONDON (AFP) - Washington’s policies of promoting democracy in Iraq and elsewhere look “increasingly effective”, and even the threat from terrorism abated slightly during 2004, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in an annual report.
The London-based think-tank noted however that the situation in Iraq was also creating a recruitment effect for terrorist groups, an aspect which remained “the proverbial elephant in the living room” of US foreign policy.
The report said that the improvement in the overall strategic climate was helped by factors such as the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but it added that US President George W. Bush’s foreign policies also seemed to be bearing fruit.
“Even though the Bush policy was bold, controversial and sometimes divisive, his aggressive global agenda of promoting freedom, and democracy appeared increasingly effective,” the IISS said in its 384-page “Strategic Survey 2004-05”.
Counter-terrorism efforts over the period had also seen an overall net gain, the report argued, despite the seemingly “counterproductive” aspects of some of the United States’s self-declared “war on terror”.
Frank says: