Why We’re Losing the War on Terror

When the concept for this book was pitched to the editor, Why We’re Losing
the War on Terror, probably seemed like quite a safe bet for Paul Rogers. 2006
had been a disastrous year in Iraq, with violence widespread and the insurgency
seemingly transcendent, and the majority of this book was probably written when
the US ‘surge’ was but a twinkle in George Bush’s eye. What wretched timing for
Rogers then, that his book should be released at a time when American success in
prosecuting the War on Terror is possibly at its highest point since the halcyon days
of early 2003. Iraq is the best example of this. All forms of violence are massively
down, figures for the dead and wounded have fallen, [1] the number of troops
joining the Iraqi security force is on the up, [2] the flow of refugees leaving has
been reversed, and al-Qaeda is in disarray. [3] It is therefore not the greatest context
for Rogers – a professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University – to release a book
fiercely lampooning the American effort there.

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