Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once asked, “Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?” Now, a new report by the Oxford Research Group (ORG) has concluded that the answer is a resounding No.

According to the report, “the war on terror is failing and instead fueling an increase in support for extremist Islamist movements.” Paul Rogers, the report’s author, explains that the best way to combat and contain Al Qaeda is through “conventional policing and security measures…but this will require a change in policy at every level.”

Rogers’ critique should sound familiar. During the 2004 elections, then presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) argued that “the war on terror is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering law enforcement operation.” The administration said that Kerry was a “weak opponent for terrorists.” President Bush caricatured Kerry’s position:

After the chaos and carnage of September the 11th, it is not enough to serve our enemies with legal papers. With those attacks, the terrorists and supporters declared war on the United States of America — and war is what they got.

With the ‘08 election in full swing, the President and the top contenders for the GOP nomination continue make the argument that war is a deterrent for terrorism; some even argue that an attack on Iran would help contain the terrorist threat. They know better. Unfortunately, they are more interested in winning elections than protecting America.

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