Various members of the Council on Global Terrorism gave the U.S. a letter grade of a “C” for protecting the homeland in The National Interest Online. The article, entitled “Making the Grade,” is from February 29, 2008, had experts such as Lee Hamilton, vice chair of the 9/11 Commission; Paul Pillar, a senior CIA official; and Bruce Hoffman, professor of security studies at Georgetown University, assign letter grades for the U.S. performance in various aspects of the War on Terror.

In no area where the experts were asked to give a letter grade did the U.S. receive higher than a C+.

Receiving a D- grade was “Balancing Security & Core Values,” “Reversing Islamic Radicalization” and “High Risk Areas.” Doing slightly better, “Shaping Long-Term Solutions” received a D, and receiving a D+ was “Combating Islamic Extremist Terrorism.”

The categories receiving a C grade was “Creating an Effective Coalition to Fight Terrorism,” “Preventing Terrorist Attack With Nukes, Dirty Bombs, Germs & Chemicals,” and “Protecting the U.S. Homeland.” The category where the U.S. received the least criticism was “Improving U.S. & Coalition Counterterrorism Capabilities,” which received a C+.

The final port of the article asked the experts to asses the likelihood of various scenarios, on a 1-5 scale with 1 being the least likely and 5 being most likely. The only scenario receiving a 5 was that the radical Islamic ideology would spread in the short-term and long-term.

The likelihood of Al-Qaeda launching another 9/11 attack on the United States was given a 4, as was the likelihood of terrorists exploding a dirty bomb in the U.S. and that suicide bombings would increase.

by Ryan Mauro