First, veterans and the public are not convinced post-9/11 foreign policy made us more secure. Majorities of both groups say the past two decades of foreign policy have not made the United States or the world safer—in fact, a plurality of veterans and Americans, in general, believe these years of unending, expansive overseas intervention have made us
less safe.
Specifically, 71 percent of veterans and the public alike believe the terrorist threat has increased over that period, a perception that matches what we know about the real potential of ill-considered military interventions to exacerbate
regional tensions and
provoke retaliation. Washington may refuse to notice these
unintended consequences, but the rest of the country has not.
Along the same lines, neither group is enthusiastic about expanding the U.S. military presence abroad: 52 percent of veterans and 60 percent of the general population do not think this is a route to more security. Perhaps U.S. taxpayers understand the diminishing returns from the ever-growing bill America pays to defend our wealthy allies.
About the prospects of invading North Korea, poll respondents were particularly pessimistic, with just 33 percent of veterans and 20 percent of the public saying it could make us safer.
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Originally Posted by Peter1469
