Posted on : Sep.13,2006 10:03 KST Modified on : Sep.13,2006 10:23 KST

Lee Jong-won, Professor of International Relations at Rikko University, Japan

Last week, U.S. president George W. Bush said that "America is safer" and boasted of his accomplishments in the war against terrorism. I remember when, not so long ago, he said the "world is safer." It is almost as if he is indirectly admitting that "homeland defense" may have made the U.S. relatively safer but the "war to eliminate terrorism" has made the world more dangerous and insecure.

The irony of the fact that the war to eliminate terror is leading to the spread of terror around the world is proven by various American statistics. According to annual Department of Defense reports, there were 11,111 incidents of terror last year. There were 208 in 2003 and 3,168 in 2004, so the increase has been truly explosive. Of the 2005 incidents, around 3,500, or 30 percent, took place in Iraq. But even excluding Iraq, you can still see a worldwide spread.

The number of victims is rising, as well. 4,271 people were hurt in terrorist attacks in 2003, 9,300 were hurt in 2004, and 40,000 were hurt in 2005. Of those, 625 died in 2003, 1,907 died in 2004, and 14,602 died in 2005. Of those 14,602 deaths that took place in 2005, 7,450, or more than half, occurred in Iraq. According to recent United Nations statistics, this past July some 3,438 Iraqis died in terrorist attacks in their own country.


The number of people in the U.S. military who have died fighting terrorism has surpassed the number of people who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Since the start of the war in Iraq in April 2003 and as of September 11, 2006, 2,671 American military personnel have died in battle. Of those, only 140, or 5 percent, died in the early stages of the fighting. Most died after Bush declared "mission accomplished" on May 1, 2003. The total number of troops who have been killed in Iraq, including those from the United Kingdom and other countries, is 2,904. If you add to that the 475 (of which 336 were Americans) who have died fighting in Afghanistan, the total goes way over the 3,030 who died in the attacks of September 11, 2001. The greatest number of victims, of course, has been among Iraqi civilians. According to the group "Iraq Body Count," between 41,650 and 46,318 Iraqis have died in the war so far.

The U.S. has seen its war expenditures skyrocket as well. Currently, it is spending US$10 billion a month in Iraq and Afghanistan. It spent $48 billion in 2003, $59 billion in 2004, $81 billion in 2005, and the year 2006 is expected to cost $94 billion. Between 1964 and 1972, the U.S. spent each year what would today be an average of $61 billion. The Department of Defense budget for 2007 is about $440 billion, but if you include the separate budget of $22 billion the Department of Energy will have for nuclear weapons-related activities and the money set aside to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. will be spending around an astronomical $600 billion annually on the military. Meanwhile, the situations in both countries, front lines in the war on terror, are actually taking a strong turn for the worse.

Neoconservative theoretician Francis Fukuyama admits in his recent book "America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy," that the "Bush doctrine" of responding to terrorism with war has been a failure. There can be no denying that. These are times of an urgent need for a framework for regional cooperation that would make up for America’s insecurity. Given this need, it is sad to see a deepening of mutual distrust in Northeast Asia, as well.



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