The Phony War Against Terrorism

When a country goes to war, it clearly defines who the enemies is, or are, and then prepares to do battle. With the only objective being victory.

But this war against terrorism is different. Because it is really a war of perception, far more than a war of reality. The West, lead by the USA is bombing the hell out of one of the poorest and most put-upon countries on our planet. The so-called enemy being the Taliban.

Now I agree that the Taliban are despicable creatures, and certainly deserving of a pounding, but not under the pretense the “coalition” is using. The Taliban didn’t attack the USA. They didn’t finance a war against the West. And the best they can do vis a vis fighting the West in terms of warfare, is to hide out in their caves while they conduct a guerilla campaign. At which they have already proven to be better than good.

It is true that Osama Bin Laden has used Afghanistan as a hideout and training facility. But it is also true that the same can be said for just about all Arabic Middle Eastern states; which either train, finance and/or give refuge to terrorists. So why aren’t we bombing the hell out of them, as we are out of Afghanistan?

Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Lybia, Algeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the PLO have long supported people like Osama Bin Laden. So why beat up on the poorest of the poor when we should be creaming the rich and powerful? And even if the West gets Bin Laden and cleans his clock. So what? Is he the only vicious Islamic fundamentalist whom we have to fear. What about the Arab terrorists who are not Islamic fundamentalist? Iraq and Syria are more or less secular states. But; no less “agents provocateurs” for terrorism.

The simple answer to this simple question is another simple question. Does the West have the belly for a real war? A real war where you identify the enemy and actually fight. The Western powers know who is responsible for world-wide terror and the attack on the USA. But they don’t have the heart to do what must be done. Instead; the West will make a tremendous example of a nation that not can fight back offensively, rather than take on a region and a people who can fight back and inflict real pain and harm to our side.

So; how does that take care of the fundamental problem, and the enemies to peace, liberty and democracy? It doesn’t. It only scores short term political points in the West. Where it seems that winning the war of the media is as important to the politicians as is winning the war on the ground against the “real” enemy.

This is indeed short-sighted. Eventually, the West is going to have to make a very hard decision, because the savages who attacked the USA are not yet done with us. Not by a long shot. Perhaps they haven’t even really begun.

Think about this. On, and just after 9/11, the enemy downed four American commercial aircraft, destroyed the Twin Towers complex, really wacked the Pentagon, killed more than 5,000 unsuspecting innocent people, wounded thousands more, virtually grounded the entire world mass transit system for more than a week, caused major events to be canceled, severely damaged the entire world economy and are possibly responsible for attacking the White House, State Department, Supreme Court Justice Building, and the media, with anthrax dispersed through the USA postal system. And all of that in their first hit.

Now. How have we responded? The first step was to watch the President of the USA flying around in Air Force One in search of personal safety. Then we heard the political outrage and the multiple declarations of war from all of the leaders. Then came the threat: “either you are with us or you’re with the terrorists”. Then came the never ending everyone’s a hero campaign. Then lets love our Moslem friends and neighbors whose religion is only about love and peace. Then the word Jihad all of a sudden no longer means holy war. Then Yasser Arafat is promised his Palestinian State. Then the Israelis are told not to fight back against terrorism because it will offend Arab countries which support terrorism. Then the world beats a path to the doorsteps of the Arab regimes, including Persian Iran in search of “friends”. Then the West all of a sudden loves Pakistan and forgets why it had put them on the boycott list. Then the West (USA) starts to bomb the hell out of Afghanistan. Mostly because they have to bomb somebody. The coalition is building so we are told. But there seems only to be a lot of Americans, some Brits and a couple of ships on their way from Canada. Where’s the rest of the global army of good guys?

The West (USA) has now spent billions of dollars sending troops and aircraft carrier groups to that region of the world. Only God and the US military auditor know how much money has already been spent bombing mountains into rocks, rocks into gravel, gravel into stone dust and stone dust into sand. But after a month of relentless bombing, the big news seems to be that we’ve taken-out a few dozen civilians, and have now captured a town or two. What is relevant, is that not a whole lot has really been happening as the “troops” from the Northern Alliance milk the West (USA) for whatever they can get their hands on.

The pity of all of this, is that after the dust settles, the West and its leaders will probably accomplish nothing, and might very well set the cause of world-wide democracy back a generation or more. Even if they find and kill Bin Laden, it’s too late. He has already achieved the status of being a great Islamic and Arab hero. His death or capture will simply elevate him to an even higher level. After-all, he has brought the Great Satan to its knees. And no matter what the West will do from here on in; Osama Bin Laden’s name and exploits have already become Islamic and Arabic legend.

Everyday that passes with more bombings and more claims by Washington that victory will be slow, is yet another triumph for the Islamists. Here is Goliath, armed with the twenty-first century technological might of the planet, facing a Lilliputian rag tag army of the “faithful”; who they can not defeat. Hollywood could not have written it better. Unfortunately the wrong side is looking good.

The other day, November 8, President Bush asked for network time to make yet another “important” address to the nation. One network ponied up the free time. The others chose to air popular shows during this ratings period. Not because the networks aren’t loyal and don’t care. But because they aren’t stupid. Why should the networks “donate” millions of dollars in valuable airtime for Bush to read yet one more speech of platitudes, written for him by someone else?

Yes, even the networks are getting bored with this phony war. How many times can Bush read a script that says you’re either with us or with the terrorists? How many videos can we see of rocks getting blown up? Or of this pathetic Northern Alliance army just “waiting” for the right time to attack?

The real enemy is snug and comfortable watching the USA, and the rest of the “free” world run around like Keystone Cops from one press conference to another, telling us that Islam is a religion of peace and love, that Israel must not fight back, that the Palestinians need a country and that countries like Syria should be in the coalition.

I think the war has already ended, and we’ve raised the white flag. All we need to do now, as in Viet Nam, is declare victory and take our troops home.

If this wasn’t as serious as it is. It would be one great big laugh. But this phony war is no laughing matter. Let’s just hope the Islamists don’t get too pissed off and decide to put us in our place. Because, if they do, we’ve just about run out of countries we can beg to join our coalition.