"Winning" the war on terrorism

[donco6]

So, by what standard are we to measure whether we have won or even are on the right track to "winning the war on terrorism"? I keep hearing that phrase popping out of the Admin's mouths, and it always makes me wonder - what does it mean?

You win a war when the representative government says, "OK, we've had enough, you win. We're putting our weapons down and letting you into the country."

So, I would guess that we would have won the war on terrorism when - there is no more terrorism?

Obviously preposterous. Impossible. There is no "winning" a "war on terrorism" because it's not a war. Terrorism is simply a tactic used by the powerless against those in power. It's like waging a war against name calling (albeit a lot more lethal).

The only weapon we have to combat terrorism is the one our government refuses to use - actually learning WHY terrorists do what they do. What are they pissed off about? Maybe think a minute from their point of view and see if perhaps you are doing something that's hurting them. Perhaps there's a compromise.

But no. TERRORISTS ARE EVIL. Terrorists do what they do, not for a reason, but because they're just BAD. Like Skeletor or the old Magneto from Brotherhood of Evil Mutants - comic-book figures who revel in the "dark side." They are not human, and cannot be treated as such.

Even the comic-book villains are not that one-dimensional anymore. It's too bad we can't seem to see that.

[laura888]

1. its a fictitious war

it just allows Bush and Co. to do whatever the f*** they want.

Its funny how clear this is to you and I, and yet others cannot see it.

The photos of what happened in the Iraqi prison were a good thing in that they revealed the true nature of the beast.

[rumguy]

2. Here's a great article by Pat Buchanan

He rips the neocons and their deluded fantasy a new one..

"no nation can "end evil." Evil has existed since Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him.

A propensity to evil can be found in every human heart. And if God accepts the existence of evil, how do Frum and Perle propose to "end" it? Nor can any nation "win the war on terror." Terrorism is simply a term for the murder of non-combatants for political ends.

Revolutionary terror has been around for as long as this Republic. It was used by Robespierre's Committee on Public Safety and by People's Will in Romanov Russia. Terror has been the chosen weapon of anarchists, the IRA, Irgun, the Stern Gang, Algeria's FLN, the Mau Mau, MPLA, the PLO, Black September, the Basque ETA, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, SWAPO, ZANU, ZAPU, the Tupamaros, Shining Path, FARC, the ANC, the V.C., the Huks, Chechen rebels, Tamil Tigers, and the FALN that attempted to assassinate Harry Truman and shot up the House floor in 1954, to name only a few.

Accused terrorists have won the Nobel Peace Prize: Begin, Arafat, Mandela. Three lie in mausoleums in the capitals of nations they created: Lenin, Mao, Ho. Others are the fathers of their countries like Ben Bella and Jomo Kenyatta. A terrorist of the Black Hand ignited World War I by assassinating the Archduke Ferdinand. Yet Gavrilo Princep has a bridge named for him in Sarajevo."

http://www.amconmag.com/3_1_04/print/coverprint.html

[Poiuyt]

3. bush just wanted to go to war; terrorism was his excuse

After 9/11, America wanted to get even with someone. It didn't matter who, but we couldn't let that go by without some action by our military. bush used the opportunity to make himself into a "war president." He wanted to go to war to help his political power.

You're right about finding out the reasons that the terrorists hate us. Unfortunately, introspection doesn't do as much for a president's ego as the B2 bomber. America should use its resources to help people instead of torturing them.