Failing Grades: America's Security Three Years After 9/11

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Three years after the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001, the Bush administration is failing the test of protecting the American people from the terrorist threat at home and abroad.

Although some progress has been made on limited fronts, the record is clear: the administration's disastrous war of choice in Iraq; its decision to ignore and shortchange real terrorist threats; its half-hearted attempts to secure nuclear, biological and chemical weapons; and its weakening of our military have left the American people facing greater risks than we did on September 12, 2001.

A comprehensive examination of the record of the Bush administration yields a sobering conclusion: far from improving our security, the Bush administration has managed to squander a historic opportunity to bring together the citizens of the United States and the people of the world in a unified fight against terror.

Instead, the administration has emboldened the world's most dangerous regimes and escalated the potential of nuclear conflict. The president's policies have alienated governments and peoples around the globe, and have helped terrorist groups in their recruiting efforts. The administration has failed to set priorities or follow up on crucial early successes.

Any attempt to grade the Bush administration record in the war on terrorism must begin in Iraq – now nothing short of a catastrophic diversion that has weakened our security. The war has claimed nearly 1,000 American lives, left close to 7,000 wounded, and stretched our military to the breaking point. The occupation continues to drain billions of taxpayer dollars every month – and there is no end in sight. The administration's assertion that Iraq is the "central front" in the war on terror has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And the Bush administration's willful manipulation of the facts to lead the country into war has done enormous damage to the presidency and eroded our international credibility.

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