Iran, N. Korea threats rising, Democratic group says
Originally published in the Army Times
July 20, 2005
Iran, N. Korea threats rising, Democratic group says
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
A Democratic national security advisory group says in a report released Wednesday that the Bush administration has made Americans less safe in some ways.
Former Clinton administration Defense Secretary William Perry headed the advisory group, whose report says President Bush is taking "insufficient actions" to counter the threat of terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb in a U.S. city.
"The administration is fighting a global war on terror but not yet a global war on weapons of mass destruction," the report says.
Group members, including retired Army Gens. John Shalikashvili and Wesley Clark, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former national security advisor Samuel Berger, believe North Korea and Iran pose bigger threats today than before the war on terrorism was launched. They also said programs aimed at preventing so-called "loose nukes" have not been getting enough attention.
"This report says we must keep our eye on the ball," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, in a statement issued along with the report.
"The administration has failed policies on weapons programs in North Korea and Iran, on securing loose nuclear material in Russia and elsewhere and on strengthening the world's nuclear non-proliferation system," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic Leader, in her own statement. "The lack of leadership by the Bush administration in these areas has made the American people less safe than they should be."
The release of the report is part of an effort to battle the perception that Democrats are weak on national security issues, but that effort has not been markedly successful.
Democrats formed a national security advisory group last year, before the fall general elections, hoping to boost their image on defense and national security issues. But a pre-election poll among service members, the National Annenberg Election Survey, found 62 percent preferred Bush over Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry as their commander-in-chief. And post-election polls showed voters who were most concerned about national security issues were more likely to vote Republican.
Democrats may be making some headway, however - at least indirectly. A survey conducted in early July by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found public opinion of Bush's conduct of the war on terrorism is declining.
The poll found 49 percent approve and 40 percent disapprove of Bush's handling of terrorist threats, down from an approval rating of 58 percent last fall.
