Washington, Nov. 7 (CNA) There is a consensus among opinion leaders, the general public and military elite that Washington should defend Taiwan with its troops even if it costs 17,000 to 20,000 US lives, according to a survey conducted by a think tank.
The survey, carried out by the TISS, a think tank consisting of professors from Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State University, found the three groups of people are unanimous in their belief that the United States should come to Taiwan's aid with force if the island comes under attack from Beijing.
The survey found that the general public would accept military losses of no more than 20,172 US soldiers in such a scenario, while the maximum death toll acceptable to the civic elite would be 17,554, with a figure of 17,425 attributed to the military elite.
However, any of the three figures is at least 45 times more than the 383 US military personnel deaths in the 1991 Gulf War, a fact indicating the extent of the consensus of opinion among those polled.
Asked about acceptable losses to maintain Congo's democracy, the acceptable limits of the three groups were 6,861, 484 and 284, respectively.
When it comes to blocking Iraq's acquirement of weapons of mass destruction, the acceptable losses were 29,853, 10,045, and 6,016, respectively.
Although the three groups varied in their maximum acceptable limits, the poll debunks a deep-rooted myth prevailing among US policymakers that Americans will brook no overseas military operation which will cause tremendous casualties to the US military, according to an analysis which accompanied the survey.
This myth could lead US leaders to balk at taking military action, and expose foreign people who need US protection to greater risk, said the authors of the survey.
US reluctance to engage overseas will also have a backlash on its own national security, because it shows Washington is more concerned about the safety of its military personnel than the fact that the nation's fighters have a responsibility to protect the country with their lives, said the analysis.
The survey was inspired by Defense Secretary William Cohen's concerns in 1997 that a discrepancy between the general public and the armed forces in their views of overseas operations will delay US military response and weaken its efficiency, as well as poisoning the relationship between the military and the people, according to the authors. (By Herman Pan & Maubo Chang)
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