I recently read in the Daily Item about Congressional testimony which stated that we should expect a continued elevation in the threat of terrorism. The report was not surprising considering daily news reports and some of the tactics we use in the “War on Terrorism.” We must remember that one’s viewpoint may determine what is considered to be terrorism.
President George W. Bush asked the question “why do they hate us?” His answer was way off point. They don’t hate us because of our freedom and democracy. Maybe they hate us because we have supported ruthless dictators in their countries. Maybe they hate us because we have covertly worked to overthrow democratically elected leaders in their country. Maybe they hate us because of our aide to corporations that exploit their people and resources. Maybe they hate us because we invade their countries causing massive destruction, dislocation of millions of people, total social breakdown, and the deaths of many thousands of people. Guantanamo, Abu grab, and black site prisons are just some of those things that give incentive for people to hate us.
How can we hope to end terrorism when our bombs rain down killing innocent people? Our drones now target people whom we suspect of being terrorists. Where is the justice in that? Being a suspect makes you guilty. Even if we have real terrorists as our target we too often kill innocent people. How many terrorists do we create with the terrorism created by our drones? Are the people in areas of Pakistan justified in viewing us as terrorists? Our actions have not lead to a decrease in world-wide terrorism. It is a simple fact that many of our actions have had the directly opposite effect.
I understand that dealing with terrorism is not an easy matter, but we must be able to “look down the road” for unintended consequences. Look what the invasion of Iraq has brought us. Our arming of the Muhajaden to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan led in a straight line to the tragedy of 9/11. By whatever name they operate be it ISIS, Boko Haram, or Al-Qaeda they must be condemned and defeated. They are armed with fanatical belief systems. Some are simply psychopaths.
We should do all we can to defeat them, but our unfocused response to Al-Qaeda has turned what was a relatively isolated problem into a much larger problem. We have been unmindful of the “blow back” of our actions. The arms manufacturers in this country couldn’t be happier with the widened war on terrorism. There seems to be too many of our so called leaders who want to use force as the first option. I agree there are times when it may be necessary, but it should be used with restraint and full realization of the consequences.
I want the citizens of this country to be safe, but I also yearn for our country to live up to the ideals we espouse. I don’t want my country to be a military empire. We now have over 700 military facilities around the world. We may think of ourselves as the world’s peace keeper, but others look at us as the world’s bully. It seems that in my nearly seventy years there has hardly been a time when we weren’t using our military forces somewhere.
Sometimes our power has been used with good reason and intent, but too often it has been used to promote our might and even to promote the interests of corporations. We seem to think that the resources of the world belong to us. Nothing should stand in the way of our consumption of the world’s resources for our own comfort. We think that cheap gas is our God given right.
We can no longer afford to financially support a world-wide military presence. It is bankrupting us. Congress keeps increasing the military budget beyond even what the services request. We are spending billions of dollars for weapon systems that are designed for the wars of the past. We keep purchasing hardware that the military doesn’t need. We purchase equipment that is so sophisticated that it fails to function.
Are we doomed to that same fate that other great economic and military nations incurred? Are we now on a descending arc?