US hawk judges ‘global war on terror’ a mistake

Fred Iklé, a Nixon-era arms control veteran and mentor to the current generation of nuclear “hawks�, has an apocalyptic vision of the future.

However, as a contrarian who confounds his neo-conservative admirers, he is also highly critical of the Bush administration’s handling of threats to the US, and calls the “global war on terror� a serious mistake.

What he calls the “sad message� of his latest work is that the accelerating advance of technology far outpaces the zig-zag development of social and political frameworks that act as controls and brakes.

“We are spreading the dark side of technology,� he tells the FT, describing the “curse of dual use� where, in biotechnology and development of superhuman intelligence in particular, scientists may inadvertently be sowing the seeds of future destruction to be wrought by anarchists or revolutionary groups.

Despite his hawkish reputation, Mr Iklé is tough on the White House, calling GWOT – the “global war on terror� – a distraction and a rallying cry that unites enemies of the US, not divides them. As for Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, his speeches warning of a generational GWOT are “defeatist and anodyne�.

“Pulling out of Iraq will lead to feelings of guilt, with some justification. In some ways we have made things worse than under Saddam Hussein,� he concludes.

Of course, the question of guilt resides with those who supported the invasion of Iraq, the lies and deceit used to manipulate justification for that invasion — and those whose votes kept the Crusaders in office.