Talking Points

Defining Victory

Talking Points

Public Opinion:

· 7 out of 10 Americans now say the UN should take the lead in Iraq reconstruction

· 66% say the US should commit itself to a stable democracy in Iraq

· 70% say war has not reduced the threat of terrorism

· Three quarters say pursuit of Osama Bin Ladin and al Qaeda is more important that Iraq

Poll by the PIPKA/Knowledge Networks “The American Public on International Issues” in November (http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/press_12_03.pdf)

Iraq and Afghanistan

According to the Disabled American Veterans, an additional 6,891 troops were medically evacuated between March 19, 2003 and Oct. 30, 2003, for everything from vehicle accidents to attempted suicides. To date, nearly 1000 soldiers have returned from Iraq in caskets.
By February 2004, neither war (Afghanistan and Iraq) had produced a stable peace in the subject countries, but they had imposed more than 18,000 fatalities including perhaps 6,000 non-combatant deaths.
More than 300 coalition troops were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq during the period between the end of major combat in those countries and February 1, 2004. Regarding Iraq, the US Central Command has cited a frequency of anti-coalition activity since May 1, 1003 that indicates a total of more than 4,700 attacks -- an average of approximately 17 per day
There are 9,000 US soldiers stationed in Afghanistan: fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda units, training the new Afghan army and attempting to preserve the new government.
A 4 or 5 year occupation of Iraq by 65,000 regular and 35,000 reserve soldiers requires a base of 260,000 active soldiers and 315,000 reserves – over half of our current total deployable ground forces.

US Foreign Policy and the Military

· According to Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, the US is “fighting three wars: Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terror. It has to deal with everything from Colombia to Haiti, the Palestinians to North Korea, the WTO. If someone is arguing the administration has a lot on its plate and it is stretched, they’ve got a point.”

· In October, the Department of Defense eliminated its only institute devoted to peacekeeping and peace enforcement: the Peacekeeping Institute at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania. The Peacekeeping Institute was created in July 1993 to guide the Army's strategic thinking on how to conduct peacekeeping and to document lessons-learned. It has operated with a staff of ten and a yearly budget of about $200,000 (out of an $81 billion annual Army budget). Canada has the sole remaining center in North America.

· Compared to the Cold War numbers, the US has 700,000 fewer soldiers on the payroll.

The US at the UN

The United States cast the lone vote against enacting the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Vote 173-1 with 4 abstentions.
Joining India, the United States opposed the program for “transparent, verified and irreversible reduction and elimination of nuclear forces.” Vote: 164-1 with 14 abstentions.
A call for negotiations to prevent an arms race in outer space was adopted overwhelmingly in a 174 to 0 vote. The Four abstaining countries were Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Israel and the United States.
Physicians for Social Responsibility Talking Points