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Mantus · 06-03-2005, 09:40 AM

Since September 11, 2001 our govenment has taken up the war banner in what it calls the war on terror. It's got to a point where so many people believe in the war on terror that I actually have to start envoking the concept myself in order to have political discusions with some people. It's become part of political liturgy. I really don't want to be doing that on this board and it makes me cringe when people invoke the term here.

How can one fight a war on terror?

From the start we are making a mistake. One cannot wage war on terrorism. Terrorism thrives on injustice. War creates injustice (no matter how controled and organized) thus war fuels terrorism. One can certainly disable the ability of a terrorist group to carry out major terrorist acts but it is almost imposible to stop minor terrorist acts. The only way to stop terrorism is to eliminate the motivation for terrorism. Mend old wound and not cause any new ones.

Case and point would be Israel; a country which has the best trained army in the world. They have been fighting terrorism for four decades with zero success. This is because they continue to propagate the policy which fueled terrorism in the first place while attempting to passify it with force. Israel is the pinacle that curent US policy aims for. Unfortunately is one proven to be very unsucsessful.

How our govenment is failing the war on terror.

Phychological warfare.

As stated earlier the only way to trully counter terrorism is to eliminate it's motivation. Over the past four years I have seen absolutely no sign of any such practice. The curent administration is vigorously keeping an image of callousness and bigotry towards the Arab world. Answering every concern of injustice done towards civilian populations with their catch prases of necessary evil in the name of freedom and/or war on terror. While such flag waving works well on Americans it doesnt offer any condolences to those who suffered from America's latest policy. Had as it may be to believe for many in the west; the people in the east are not willing to sacrifice their loved ones so Americans can feel safe at home. The support of the Pakistani regime, the hit and run on Afghanistan, the refusal to co-operate with the international comunity on Iraq are just some of the symptoms of a proud government focusing on their own agenda while ignoring everyone else. The major foul up to date has been Iraq. To the very end of his regime Saddam Hussein has held a strong distaste towards religion and especially fundamentalists. Thus making his country one of the most terrorist free zones in the middle east for years. Now that Hussein has been dethroned the country lept into chaos. Anti-American sentiment rose though the roof and insurgent activity began. Thus making the newly liberated Iraq a greenhouse for terrorist activity.

So not only are we failing to take steps in the attempt to stop terrorism towards this country but we are actually encuraging its propagation.

War on Terror.

If one cannot eliminate hatred for one's country then one could attempt to minimize losses (as the Russians and Israelis among others tried) by targeting the infrastructure of a terrorist groups thus making it harder for them to cary out major operations.

Our first major attack in the war on terror was Afghanistan. Here we went in killed 3,500 civilians, destroyed what was left of their infrastructure and left behind a small vanguard of troops. We also left behind the taliban - still active with most of their leaders not captured, a weak govenment, skyrocketing opium production, and warlords who run most of the the country. All in all, I am not sure we achieved anything. The next punch was aimed at Iraq. A country free and of little intrest to terrorists. Having no weapons to sell them and their leader being rather distasteful of fundamentalist views.

Now these two operations cost the country some $200 bilion dollars. They have achieved relatively nothing in terms of stopping terrorism. There are still plenty of countries that will offer asylum to terrorist and enough countries that can offer potentially dangerous weapons to terrorists, god knows we give them enough motivation. It is also important to note that a weapon of mass destruction is not necissary to achieve mass destruction. The Oklahoma city bomming is a prime example of this.

So I ask that we refrain from using the term "war on terror" in discusions on this forum. It's just a farse. Even though the current administration envokes the phrase at every oprotunity their actions do not support their words. We are not fighting a war on terror. We are fighting a war for the liberation of Iraq and a very poor attempt at that.

Terrorism is real, terrorism is a threat, but this administration is doing very little to actually combat terrorism thus there is no war on terror.

06-03-2005, 09:40 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mantus lascivious	Shall we end the War on Terror charade? Since September 11, 2001 our govenment has taken up the war banner in what it calls the war on terror. It's got to a point where so many people believe in the war on terror that I actually have to start envoking the concept myself in order to have political discusions with some people. It's become part of political liturgy. I really don't want to be doing that on this board and it makes me cringe when people invoke the term here. How can one fight a war on terror? From the start we are making a mistake. One cannot wage war on terrorism. Terrorism thrives on injustice. War creates injustice (no matter how controled and organized) thus war fuels terrorism. One can certainly disable the ability of a terrorist group to carry out major terrorist acts but it is almost imposible to stop minor terrorist acts. The only way to stop terrorism is to eliminate the motivation for terrorism. Mend old wound and not cause any new ones. Case and point would be Israel; a country which has the best trained army in the world. They have been fighting terrorism for four decades with zero success. This is because they continue to propagate the policy which fueled terrorism in the first place while attempting to passify it with force. Israel is the pinacle that curent US policy aims for. Unfortunately is one proven to be very unsucsessful. How our govenment is failing the war on terror. Phychological warfare. As stated earlier the only way to trully counter terrorism is to eliminate it's motivation. Over the past four years I have seen absolutely no sign of any such practice. The curent administration is vigorously keeping an image of callousness and bigotry towards the Arab world. Answering every concern of injustice done towards civilian populations with their catch prases of necessary evil in the name of freedom and/or war on terror. While such flag waving works well on Americans it doesnt offer any condolences to those who suffered from America's latest policy. Had as it may be to believe for many in the west; the people in the east are not willing to sacrifice their loved ones so Americans can feel safe at home. The support of the Pakistani regime, the hit and run on Afghanistan, the refusal to co-operate with the international comunity on Iraq are just some of the symptoms of a proud government focusing on their own agenda while ignoring everyone else. The major foul up to date has been Iraq. To the very end of his regime Saddam Hussein has held a strong distaste towards religion and especially fundamentalists. Thus making his country one of the most terrorist free zones in the middle east for years. Now that Hussein has been dethroned the country lept into chaos. Anti-American sentiment rose though the roof and insurgent activity began. Thus making the newly liberated Iraq a greenhouse for terrorist activity. So not only are we failing to take steps in the attempt to stop terrorism towards this country but we are actually encuraging its propagation. War on Terror. If one cannot eliminate hatred for one's country then one could attempt to minimize losses (as the Russians and Israelis among others tried) by targeting the infrastructure of a terrorist groups thus making it harder for them to cary out major operations. Our first major attack in the war on terror was Afghanistan. Here we went in killed 3,500 civilians, destroyed what was left of their infrastructure and left behind a small vanguard of troops. We also left behind the taliban - still active with most of their leaders not captured, a weak govenment, skyrocketing opium production, and warlords who run most of the the country. All in all, I am not sure we achieved anything. The next punch was aimed at Iraq. A country free and of little intrest to terrorists. Having no weapons to sell them and their leader being rather distasteful of fundamentalist views. Now these two operations cost the country some $200 bilion dollars. They have achieved relatively nothing in terms of stopping terrorism. There are still plenty of countries that will offer asylum to terrorist and enough countries that can offer potentially dangerous weapons to terrorists, god knows we give them enough motivation. It is also important to note that a weapon of mass destruction is not necissary to achieve mass destruction. The Oklahoma city bomming is a prime example of this. So I ask that we refrain from using the term "war on terror" in discusions on this forum. It's just a farse. Even though the current administration envokes the phrase at every oprotunity their actions do not support their words. We are not fighting a war on terror. We are fighting a war for the liberation of Iraq and a very poor attempt at that. Terrorism is real, terrorism is a threat, but this administration is doing very little to actually combat terrorism thus there is no war on terror.