The idea that terrorism and the War on Terror are exclusively defined by the capture and/or extinguishment of al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden is a very flawed thought. The idea that once Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror has ended terrorism will be a thing of the past is a pipedream. The belief that the election of a new Prime Minister for the PLO will solve all the violent problems of the Middle East is ludicrous. Terrorism has been with us for quite a long time and the horrid fact is that it will most likely be with us for some time to come. The idea in play here is that the citizens of the United States, and peoples of every free country, shouldn’t have to accept or condone state sponsored terror the likes of which we saw with the al Qaeda harboring Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The world shouldn’t have to constantly look over its collective shoulder to see what the “fanatic-of-the-day” is up to. In an age when there are human footprints on the moon, when life is being cloned and everyone has a cell phone attached to their head we shouldn’t have to be paranoid about what terror has in store for us on any given day.
Yet, there are those who still don’t understand the brutal mentality of the terrorist mind or its complex organization, which exists throughout the world. This can be attributed to some extent to the mainstream media, herein out called the “alphabet media”, and their selective coverage and individual portrayal of the terror events and facts thereof.
I was watching coverage of one of the anti-war protests not too long ago and I saw two of our fine, young American protesters, who were obviously cutting their World Affairs class, carrying a banner that read, “We stand with the people of Iraq”. It made me pause in wonderment. Do these people have any idea what it is that we are fighting for or what it is that we are up against? Apparently not. I don’t know of anyone who truly understands the Iraqi situation who would protest against military action in Iraq and then turn around and say that they were standing with the Iraqi people. It’s the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard and an incredible oxymoron. The simple truth of the matter is if they were standing with the tortured and oppressed people of Iraq they would be taking up arms to help liberate the Iraqis themselves. Instead, these students of higher education marched with their clever little signs loaded with hate for their own country held high and their heads in the clouds as to the seriousness of the terrorism threat and how it is networked around the world courtesy of being devoid of all the facts. How unusual for the modern day college student.
As we enter into the dangerous stage of the Iraqi matter it would serve us well to look backward for a moment. Some would say that the United States and the Bush Administration “shifted gears” from fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan to demanding regime change in Iraq. This shortsighted viewpoint can be attributed directly to the way the alphabet media fed us the information. By placing so much emphasis on the individuality of terrorist events around the world they herd the American public into a tunnel vision-like, individualistic perspective of a picture that is much larger and much more encompassing. It is akin to thinking that by opening a window to clear a smoke filled room one could clear it when in fact by opening the window one would be feeding the fire that created the smoke in the first place causing more smoke and a raging inferno. In this scenario one is very likely to burn down the house, it is simply the kinematics of fire. When this idea is applied to the understanding of terrorism around the world it could be suggested that by limiting the focus of terrorism to individual events one is missing the bigger picture, that one is missing the entire point of the War on Terror.
When President Bush stood before Congress shortly after the massacre on September 11th he stated that the United States would be responding by committing ourselves to a War on Terror. He explained quite clearly that it would encompass confronting terror on every continent, at all times, whenever it should be recognized and that it would be a long and tedious process. Aside from those diligent students of our institutions of higher learning that are too busy painting clever slogans on signs that they would carry in protest marches that keep them from their classes and make their parents proud, most of us know that terrorist groups are affecting the daily lives of people all over the world including nations in Africa, Indonesia, Asia, and South America as well as the Middle East and the United States. It is a global problem that requires governments around the world to have the intestinal fortitude to do things that are sometimes distasteful, unpopular military action just happens to be one of those distasteful things and quite frankly, individual nation’s economic interests aren’t a reason to allow terrorism to exist. Should the alphabet media choose to thoroughly enlighten the masses about the totality of the danger at hand perhaps the seriousness and the magnitude of the situation might be understood before our government is castrated militarily and a terror much more heinous than September 11th happens on our soil.
As we move forward into the military phase of the Iraqi problem, the end game, the people of the United States and the world should probably try to understand that this won’t be the last time that military force may have to be used to quell the tide of terrorism. We have a leader in George W. Bushwho is steadfast to his word when it comes to the battle against terrorism. We all need to keep in mind that we, as a country and directly after September 11th, made a decision to enter into conflict with those who would wish us ill will through terror. With that in mind it must be recognized that terrorists aren’t states or nations but individuals who may rule states or nations. And no matter how much you may be opposed to war or military action or whether you are a Republican, Democrat or Independent, those who would harm us still believe you to be an “infidel” and would be much happier if we were all dead.