* Washington, DC— *With President Bush touring the country on a new
public relations campaign designed to sell his national security
policies to the American people, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid,
Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, House Democratic Whip Steny
Hoyer, and Senator Thomas Carper today joined General Wesley Clark and
Sharon Burke, Director of the Third Way National Security Project to
release "the Neo Con," a new report analyzing the dangerous effects
Republican policies have had on the security of the nation
<http://third-way.com/products/58> . Prepared by Third Way , the study
is a damning indictment of Bush Republican failure and incompetence that
has left America less safe five years after September 11, 2001.
The new report throws the national security failures of the Bush
Administration and its Rubber Stamp Republican Congress into harsh
relief. Shockingly, despite repeated rhetoric from the White House
citing the new realities of the post-9/11 world, Bush Republican
incompetence has left America vulnerable in an increasingly unstable
world. Bogged down in Iraq with its military stretched thin, America now
finds itself less able to fight and win the war on terror. Around the
world, Afghanistan , Iran , and North Korea have grown more dangerous.
Meanwhile, terrorist attacks around the world have rapidly multiplied.
“We took a hard look at the numbers,” said Burke, “and the numbers don’t
lie – the Bush strategy is not working.”
With the five-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks fast
approaching, the report serves as a sobering reminder that the President
and his Republican Congress have failed to learn the lessons of that
terrible day. In a study cited in "the Neo Con," 86% of National
Security experts interviewed by the Center for American Progress and
Foreign Policy magazine rate the world as more dangerous for the US and
Americans; 83% disagree that the United States is winning the war on
terror. A copy of “the Neo Con” can be found online here
<http://third-way.com/products/58>.
“The facts do not lie,” said Senator Reid today. “Under the Bush
Administration and this Republican Congress, America is less safe,
facing greater threats, and unprepared for the dangerous world in which
we live. This new report is a stunning indictment of Bush foreign
policy, and it makes a clear case for the new direction we need to keep
America safe.”
“This report makes clear that the policies of the Bush Administration
have failed to make the American people as safe as they should be,” said
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. “It provides compelling evidence
that the war in Iraq has weakened our military, hindered efforts to
defeat terrorism, and diverted attention and resources from crucial
security challenges. Anyone who reads the report will come to the
inescapable conclusion: America needs a new direction.”
“The majority party in power fails to understand the basic concept of
fighting terror: We can't dry up the wellspring of hatred which is
driving terrorist recruiting by making more enemies than friends,” said
General Clark, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander. “Their
arrogance and incompetence prevents the powers that be from authoring
the change in direction we need. The Democratic party offers America the
best chance to turn things around and set a new course towards strategic
success in the war on terror.”
“Democrats have been leading our nation in the battle for democracy for
over a century,” said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. “From Wilson ,
to FDR, to Truman, to Kennedy to Clinton , Democrats have been holding
the torch of freedom to light the way for other nations long before the
Republican Party joined the fight. That is a tradition that we continue
here today. This report details how President Bush and the Republican
Congress have failed to make us as safe as we should be, and we hope
that by pointing out these failures we can force a change in course.”
“The bi-partisan 9/11 Commission came through with specific
recommendations to make America safe, and we still haven’t managed to
meet those goals,” said Senator Durbin. “They continue to give this
Administration failing grades when it comes to a communication network
for police and fire fighters and emergency medical responders. They give
it failing grades on the protection of our ports, the protection of
chemical and nuclear facilities. As this new report makes clear, there
is a lot more that needs to be done to make America safe. The lesson of
9/11 should be a reminder to Congress that we’ve got to get down to the
business of making America safer at home.”
Said Senator Carper, “as this report by Third Way shows, President
Bush’s policies have made us less safe, not more secure. Instead of
playing politics with the war on terror and trying to score points
against Democrats, the President needs to reach out to members of both
parties and forge a new direction that will make the United States , and
the rest of the world, a safer place.”
Five years after 9/11, the American people will no longer tolerate
incompetent and failed Republican policies that put their security at
risk, and they want a real change. Democrats are fighting to take this
country in a new direction, and remain committed to the tough AND smart
policies needed to finally give Americans the real security they deserve
and demand.
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