The "War on Terror" Is A Farce

by Stephen Nichols
I just can't help but to say it... America's war on terrorism is a total farce. It is completely ridiculous. The only reason we're engaged in this battle is because we are afraid of what might happen if we don't. We're afraid of more terrorist attacks. So, we do what most frightened people do -- we resolve ourselves to destroying our perceived enemies. The war on terrorism is a knee-jerk reaction to the terrible tragedy of September 11th. As a people, we all reacted with both horror and indignation towards the World Trade Center attacks. The collective thoughts seem to be shock ("Oh my God, those poor people!"), followed by anger ("How dare anyone attack us?") followed by vengeance ("We will kill all who are against us!"). These collective thoughts have propelled us down the path of a war we cannot win. And, I fear, it will take tens of thousands more American lives to be lost for us to realize it.

You see, most Americans believe that America is the center of the Universe. As a people, we believe we're the best on Earth. Our current economic and military supremacy is what fuels this belief. We truly believe that we are invincible. Perhaps we believe this a bit less so now because we were attacked, but the fundamental belief still pervades our society. The war on terrorism is a crusade that seeks to replenish the evidence supporting our collective belief of invincibility. We want to prove to ourselves, and the world, that we are unassailable -- that we are indeed the most powerful people on Earth. Understanding this collective arrogance is key to understanding why the war began and foreseeing how it will be concluded.

I'm sure that many of you believe that this is a war that was forced on America. You may think that we were just minding our business when those evil terrorists attacked us out of the blue! There is some truth to that, from a limited perspective. Certainly, most of the thousands of civilians killed were just minding their business -- just trying to live their lives. Yet each of us, as American citizens, is ultimately responsible for the actions that our country takes (or fails to take). We are all equally responsible for our national actions. Most of us blatantly ignore this responsibility. We live our lives without paying much attention to the role we play in the world. We leave it to our elected officials to make the right decisions, only thinking about the issues that we believe affect us most directly. As citizens, we have all but ignored our foreign policy. It is that ignorance that has allowed our country to fall into the terrible situation that we are now in. The truth is that we brought this calamity on ourselves. It is our actions in the world that have angered the "terrorists" and have caused them to single us out for their aggression. This is so obviously true, yet ignored by the majority of Americans. Need proof? Consider the following quotes from a 1998 (three years before the 9/11 attacks) interview with Osama bin Laden for some insight into his thinking:

"The call to wage war against America was made because America has spear-headed the crusade against the Islamic nation, sending tens of thousands of its troops to the land of the two Holy Mosques over and above its meddling in its affairs and its politics, and its support of the oppressive, corrupt and tyrannical regime that is in control. These are the reasons behind the singling out of America as a target. And not exempt of responsibility are those Western regimes whose presence in the region offers support to the American troops there. We know at least one reason behind the symbolic participation of the Western forces and that is to support the Jewish and Zionist plans for expansion of what is called the Great Israel. Surely, their presence is not out of concern over their interests in the region. ... Their presence has no meaning save one and that is to offer support to the Jews in Palestine who are in need of their Christian brothers to achieve full control over the Arab Peninsula which they intend to make an important part of the so called Greater Israel."

"The wrongs and the crimes committed against the Muslim nation are far greater than can be covered by this interview. America heads the list of aggressors against Muslims. The recurrence of aggression against Muslims everywhere is proof enough. For over half a century, Muslims in Palestine have been slaughtered and assaulted and robbed of their honor and of their property. Their houses have been blasted, their crops destroyed. And the strange thing is that any act on their part to avenge themselves or to lift the injustice befalling them causes great agitation in the United Nations which hastens to call for an emergency meeting only to convict the victim and to censure the wronged and the tyrannized whose children have been killed and whose crops have been destroyed and whose farms have been pulverized."

"In today's wars, there are no morals, and it is clear that mankind has descended to the lowest degrees of decadence and oppression. They rip us of our wealth and of our resources and of our oil. Our religion is under attack. They kill and murder our brothers. They compromise our honor and our dignity and dare we utter a single word of protest against the injustice, we are called terrorists. This is compounded injustice. And the United Nations insistence to convict the victims and support the aggressors constitutes a serious precedence which shows the extent of injustice that has been allowed to take root in this land."

"Terrifying an innocent person and terrorizing him is objectionable and unjust, also unjustly terrorizing people is not right. Whereas, terrorizing oppressors and criminals and thieves and robbers is necessary for the safety of people and for the protection of their property. There is no doubt in this. Every state and every civilization and culture has to resort to terrorism under certain circumstances for the purpose of abolishing tyranny and corruption. Every country in the world has its own security system and its own security forces, its own police and its own army. They are all designed to terrorize whoever even contemplates to attack that country or its citizens. The terrorism we practice is of the commendable kind for it is directed at the tyrants and the aggressors and the enemies of Allah, the tyrants, the traitors who commit acts of treason against their own countries and their own faith and their own prophet and their own nation."

Osama bin Laden's thinking seems pretty clear to me. He states that we have meddled in the politics of his people (Saudi Arabia), which is true. He claims that we have supported the oppression of the Palestinian people, which is also true. He claims that we are responsible for the siege against Iraq, which is true as well. He also claims that his terrorist actions are being used to counter these actions that we have taken. Nowhere does he claim that he is against the USA because it is a freedom-loving people. Indeed, he seems to be saying that he is against us for quite the opposite. We are hypocrites of the highest order, professing a love of peace and freedom while we export oppression and terror.

Now, whether or not you agree with Osama bin Ladens's ideas is irrelevant. The bottom line is that our country's actions are what have caused him to decide to wage war against us. He clearly sees the way that our country treats the world, and he has chosen to fight against it. It is our collective arrogance that allows us to treat the majority of the world with total indifference. It is this indifference that has created our enemies. And, as we continue to operate with indifference, we will continue to generate more and more enemies.

It may not be obvious to you yet, but this war we are waging is a war we cannot win. We will not stamp out terrorism through continued aggression. We cannot cease the revolt against our oppressive policies through more oppressive policies. The very notion defies logical analysis. It is our deeply-rooted arrogance that keeps us from seeing this basic truth and acting on it. We must, for the sake of our ego, move aggressively against this phantom enemy -- an enemy that cannot be killed by bombs and guns. For each "terrorist" we kill, we are creating two more. We may quell the violence for a time, but it will continue to resurface until we address the root of the problem. That root is our oppressive policies toward the world.

Our arrogance has caused this problem. Our relentless oppression of the Muslim world is a symptom of this arrogance. This arrogance is fueled by a severe lack of love for the world's people. As a people, we simply don't care about others unless we are getting paid to. We kill people who disagree with us. We support oppressive regimes. We systematically disengage ourselves from responsibility for our actions. These are the reasons that the World Trade Center was destroyed -- and thousands of "innocent" civilians killed. Each of us is responsible for the thousands of deaths that occurred on that beautiful fall morning. As we continue to deny our role in this, we continue to dig ourselves deeper into conflict. Until we treat the world with love and respect, we will never experience lasting peace. Thousands upon thousands of people will die unless we change our ways. I can only hope and pray that we will make the right choices before it's too late...