For whatever reason, I got to thinking about the ongoing "rights vs. security" debate that has been going on in this country over the past five years, and the so-called Global War on Terror, or GWOT.
First, I need to stipulate that I agree that terrorism is a real concern. There really are groups out there who want to attack the United States, and they really do spend a lot of time thinking about and planning such attacks. And there are means out there to do serious harm: Chemical, biological, and even nuclear weapons. We need to be serious and diligent about thwarting these attacks.
That said, I can't stress strongly enough that I think we've REALLY gone down the wrong path in dealing with these issues. It's time for the U.S. to act like the grownups in the house, instead of the petulant but muscular adolescent.
Most obviously, this government has gotten us sidetracked into an old-fashioned war in Iraq, which our mis-leadership has vainly tried to tie to the "war against terror. " Bush & Co. have been arguing for years that Iraq is the "central front" in the war on terror, but recent polls suggest the American people aren't buying that anymore. It's really just another chapter in the age-old geopolitical warfare book. It's about regional influence, strategic access to petroleum, and muscle-flexing. But the whole enterprise was doomed by the strategic blunders and blindness of a pack of idiot savants: Wrong war, not enough troops, expectations of being "greeted as liberators," overlooking ethnic divisions, etc.
The other front the government is fighting is being waged against its own citizens. The Administration has tried to convince the American people that their rights to free speech, free association, a free press and due process somehow represent an unaffordable luxury during this time of war... this time of undeclared, unspecified, unwinnable war on "terror." (More on this false choice in a later post)
A very different strategic vision is needed. We need to define our strategic objectives, identify the means which will accomplish those objectives, and prepare to deal with any attacks, should they come.
First, we need to more clearly define the enemy: It's Al-Qaeda and its offspring. It's not every Muslim who disagrees with a U.S. policy, and it's not every Muslim revolutionary or insurgent group on the planet. It's certainly not every terrorist organization out there -- you can't eradicate "terrorism" any more than you can eradicate "abstract art" because it's an idea.
Although WWII is sometimes called a war against fascism, it wasn't: It was a war against the Axis powers of Germany, Japan and Italy. We won, and fascism has never been the same, but fascism lives on; you can't stamp it out. Similarly, this must be defined as a war against a specific organization and its followers. We'll keep our eyes out for any other groups which want to take up their tactics against us, but let us fight these bastards right now.
To make another analogy: The fire department fights specific fires, not the idea of fire. Imagine a person interviewing for fire chief comes in and says, "My plan is to stamp out all fire forever. And I will not rest until fire is stamped out and only inflammability remains." And the committee talks about him afterward, and decides, "This guy's a real wanker. He's out of his flipping gourd." But that's sort of our national strategy these days.
The terrorist threat from Al-Qaeda and its cohort is going to require hard work and serious commitment. But there has been far too much hysteria. We need the patient work of dedicated professionals to identify, monitor and thward these groups. We need to use constant diplomatic pressure to isolate thsee groups and the regimes who might support them, or allow them to function (Hello, Pakistan). And when necessary, yes, we might need to take military action. But let's keep our focus, my fellow Americans.
There is no need to transform our nation into Fort America, or quaver in fear and hand over our rights to demagogic political leaders. We do not need to empty the national treasury into the bank accounts of the defense and intelligence industries. We don't need to live in fear and hunker down. We just need to be smarter, work harder and be more persistant than the groups we're fighting.
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