bush
December 2008 
Terrorized by 'War on Terror'
Brian
Terrorized by 'War on Terror'
How a Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America
The "war on terror" has created a culture of fear in America. The Bush administration's elevation of these three words into a national mantra since the horrific events of 9/11 has had a pernicious impact on American democracy, on America's psyche and on U.S. standing in the world. Using this phrase has actually undermined our ability to effectively confront the real challenges we face from fanatics who may use terrorism against us.
The damage these three words have done -- a classic self-inflicted wound -- is infinitely greater than any wild dreams entertained by the fanatical perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks when they were plotting against us in distant Afghan caves. The phrase itself is meaningless. It defines neither a geographic context nor our presumed enemies. Terrorism is not an enemy but a technique of warfare -- political intimidation through the killing of unarmed non-combatants.
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Great post! For all practical purposes, the terrorists have won. Dan Piraro, writing in the current issue of VEGNEWS, (“Cheese Impotence”) sums it up nicely:
“The day we stopped being able to carry Chap stick, hand lotion, and water onto an airplane, the terrorists won. They wanted to destroy our way of life and rob us of our freedom. We are now a nation of crack-lipped, dry-skinned, dehydrated wimps shuffling through airports in our stocking feet. The next time the terrorists attack the nation, most Americans will be too fat to run anyway.”
FYI… his interview on Bill Maher's show on Friday night is now on
youtube….
There is another video of the same interview, but i'm having some problems
with the sound on each of them. maybe you'll do better. they are uploaded by
2 different people.
That was excellent, Brian. Thank you.
I've been mystified by those three words since I first heard them. Terror is a mental state; not only does it make no sense to wage a war on an emotion, the very phrase creates the fear it purports to attack. It's an absurd–if bizarrely ingenious –proposition. Isn't the antidote to terror love and trust instead of hatred and war? The latter seems only self-perpetuating.
(Heh. This is an aside, but it just occurred to me that the color-coded Terror Alert is a neat inversion of the SD spiral. As one goes up, the other goes down. Nice.)
And last but not least, that guy's name is worth a small fortune in Scrabble. Three z's? He's an honorary Zaadzster, for SURE.
And last but not least, that guy's name is worth a small fortune in Scrabble. Three z's? He's an honorary Zaadzster, for SURE.
:)
Yes, yes, and yes. Thanks for this Bri. Now on with the work of regrounding and reminding myself and others what is and isn't real (ahem… at least as I see it)!
Siona always amazes me with insights and observations… ditto on the :)
Last evening's 3rd & final episode of The Trap - What Happened to Our Dreams of Freedom - looked at the rise of terrorism in the 20th century, and how the twaddle of thinkers such as Satre - ” violence is good, you see, as it will free us from the bourgeois facade ” - inspired Pol Pot to slaughter the entire Cambodian middle class.
This and other issues that I have raised elsewhere speak volumes in respect to War on Terror and the UNDERMING process is most certainly not resricted to America - far from IT
I highly recommend watching the movie “Why We Fight” because when considering the reasons why anyone would wish to plant fear in the public, to promote war, this film is a must see. I sat in silence for awhile after viewing it - considering how deeply entrenched into our society the financial aspects of war are. I dont think we can even come close to correcting the 'why' without considering this perspective. The magnitude of what we have allowed to occur within our societal fabric is frightening.
If you haven't seen the movie… let me point you to the website www.whywefight.com - Eisenhowers speech warning of the military industrial complex in 1961 is worth listening to now. I think this is an important perspective to include, if we are to prevent future war mongering.
Hail to Searching - What a SPOT ON comment post - and thanks for bringing this perspective to the table so to speak. In the context of my own post here - I believe that it would be fair to say that it was Eisenhower's exposure to the financial underpinnings of war that marked the point at which the “godliness” was LOST.
When Linnie & I lived in Sittard NL in the early 1970's we often went on camping trips with Nikki - our first daughter - to a favourite spot in Luxembourg. A place which forever occupies such a powerful recollection in my mind - that when I first saw how similar a piece of ancient oak woodland in Wales was to IT - I had to become IT's custodian - such that my family & future generations could potentially benefit from the same experience.
On the way to Luxembourg we always passed through Bastogne with its US tank marking the bi-fication of the ways - which to this day acts as a constant reminder of the fact that every mile that that tank moved towards Germany required a full jerrycan of fuel and a logistical process to bring it all the way from the USA.
No better example of the futility of war has been portrayed than the Battle of the Bulge episode of Band of Brothers - & considering ALL the circumstance & what actually happened one can only come to the conclusion that the battle was won because the German forces ran out of fuel but the Allied forces did not - as a result inpart of the the financial underpinnings of war.
Thanks Michael - My son was serving in afghanistan when i watched this movie … so my viewing of it at the time provoked alot of anger & depression in me.
Watching this movie, i was reminded of a statement by my grandmother that completely floored me at the time. She said 'we need a war in order to improve the economy', that 'after each war, our economy improves'. I couldn't fathom how anyone could come to such a conclusion. After watching this movie perhaps i understand 'why' she may have thought it, Still, i'm horrified this mentality exists & that in some peoples perspective it is ok to think this way.
Not knowing much about economics - especially in other countries - I'm wondering how deep is Britain's level of defense spending woven into its economy. Are the countries who opposed us going to war, small defense spenders?
thanks for the link!
“The “war on terror” has created a culture of fear in America. ”
well, for those who are watching the current season (season 6) of 24, then this would sound more chilling. what's the deal with Vice Presidents being hard-ass anyway? ;)
~C
Creating a culture of fear - by whatever means including communist 'witch-hunts' - in order to command and control the citizens has of course been the powerful order of the day since the Romans.
The citizens, however, do NOW have the POWER of the internet, blogging and hyperlinking - much enhanced by what IS zaadz - to bring to reality THE famous statement that - the POLITICIANS should fear & listen to the PEOPLE rather than the PEOPLE being in fear of their POLITICIANS - and/or the MILITARY and/or THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL MACHINE - and accountability to the PEOPLE is the key.
The MEGA levels of Defense spending woven into the GLOBAL economy - not just Britain's but the EU's, Japan's, Russia's , China's, India's as well as that of the USA et al - figures highly in Colin Mason's thinking and the potential solutions which he propounds.
The task with which we are faced on a global basis - at the level of the individual collective - is the need for ACTION to INFLUENCE the MIND-SET change from being merchants of DEATH to being merchants of LOVE - conscious capitalism in fact - whilst being confident that we can avoid ALL of Machiavelli's warnings.