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Fighting the Larger War

The War On Terror is unique because its political, temporal and geographic borders are unknown and its enemy is fluidly ill-defined.

By Neve Gordon

While the fighting in Lebanon was still raging, many analysts claimed that Hezbollah’s modern weaponry and use of civilian spaces for military purposes distinguished the war from any other. “Never before in history has a terrorist organization had such state-of-the-art military equipment, ” an Israeli general was quoted as saying in the New York Times. And yet, “Hezbollah has no… return to article

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    I guess that we should just let Osama Bin Ladin send planes into our Trade Center to Kill our people without a response.  There is a war going on between Islam and the rest of the free world.  We can either fight back or allow them to ruin our society.  We need to force the Mosques to denounce terrorists and turn-in any potential suspects.  We are fighting agianst people that strap bombs to themselves in order to kill a handful of people.  There is no negotiating with these people.  Don’t you remember what 9/11 did to our economy?  With a few more attacks like that and our country will be in shambles and our lives will never be the same.  I didn’t agree with the war on Iraq at first but now I see how important it is for us to win, then get Iran and the rest of the middle east to fall in line.  The article was right about one thing; this war is not going away anytime soon, even if we ignore it.

    United States Posted by dduck on Sep 13, 2006 at 4:49 PM

    dduck, the place where the response to the 9/11 attacks had begun was Afghanistan, but that effort was undermined when the front was opened in Iraq. Now, 5 years later, NATO is trying to finish what was left undone, and having no easy time of it. Because of the errors, falsehoods, scandals and incompetencies associated with Iraq, the electorates in countries that might have had a share in trouncing al-Qaeda and stabilizing Afghanistan back in 2001 now raise hell when their politicians want to send troops there. The entire mission became muddled and its accomplishment delayed God-knows how long, because of what began in March 2003.

    Pres. Bush’s recent speech focused on Iraq a great deal since he sees it as part and parcel of the war on terror, and he may have been able to persuade you since he was able to deliver the speech semi-eloquently without faltering the script (decent teleprompter use on his part, nothing more). But in my opinion, dividing the forces that might have been used to finish the job in Afghanistan was naively optimistic, tactically foolish, and, as many predicted then and what is coming to pass now, has actually increased the constituency al-Qaeda and similar jihadists will be able to draw upon for years to come. An undistracted effort and decisive victory in Afghanistan would have led to very different outcomes.

    The milk is already spilt in Iraq, and there’s no turning back the clock to regain pre-invasion conditions. But that does not change the effect of beginning a second war before the first one was finished. I ask you to consider these thoughts as you evaluate the president and the wars America has undertaken during his terms.

    I only pray that the new Iraqi government doesn’t become as brutal as Saddam Hussein’s regime to quell the violence there. It may. Wouldn’t that be a fine capstone to the whole adventure, trashing the country to unseat a vicious dictator, only to have the new “friendly” government become just as beastly.

    Philippines Posted by Kuya on Sep 14, 2006 at 2:27 AM

    There certainly have been tactical errors in the war ,as there is with all wars throughout history.  Iraq is, and has always been the key to a free middle east.  Saddam had the most power of all of our enemies.  Once we prove that we can knock him out of power is sends a clear message to any dictator that wants to harbor terrorists.  Terrorists without the funding from the corrupt governments of the middle east are reduced to a mere pest, but with millions of dollars and weapons technology (Which Saddam had) they become much more. 
    These are people that only respond to force; their culture is to deceive and they have been at war with eachother for hundreds of years.  Now they want to export that to the US and we need to send the clear message for them.  If they support groups that attack the US then they will be taken out of Power.  The leader of Iran is next; he had more to do with 9/11 than Saddam but it was the strategy of the Adminstration to go after Iraq first and hope that the people of Iran would rise up and want to have a free society like the one we are trying to install in Iraq.  Unfortunatley we are fighting a very determined group of religeous radicals that believe that it’s holy to kill people that don’t believe in Ala.
    I don’t believe that we can “win,” but hopefully we can contain them and reduce the attacks on our soil by putting them on the defensive.  Agree or not, that is the strategy and it’s worked since 9/11.

    United States Posted by dduck on Sep 14, 2006 at 8:45 AM

    first of all, it’s spelled “Allah.” secondly, was i the only person who saw the “president” admit on national television that there was NO connection between Iraq and 9/11? and these religious radicals in the middle east are just as deranged in their faith as those in here in America who rationalize the discrimination and marginalization of a quarter of our population by quoting Bible verses.

    their “war” on terror might be well-intentioned, but this administration is going about it the wrong way, which began in 2003 and diverting its attention from Afghanistan. fighting it by impinging on the basic rights of people, regardless of religion or citizenship, does not make us any friends. the u.s. government is using ignorance as a weapon and being as “non-transparent” as bush accuses north korea and kim jung il of being. labeling, name-calling and ill-informed military force and the other divisive methods employed by this bush-man and his gaggle of “yes-men” are the surest way to the longest road to non-war.

    United States Posted by everyman on Sep 14, 2006 at 9:23 PM

    Well, I guess endless war is the only solution to very ignorant people who scream “9/11” whenever challenged.

    Though, they know as little about the actual attacks as they do about the middle east.

    You can fool most of the people most of the time, and that is their strategy.

    9/11 Press For Truth

    John Doraemi Publishes Crimes of the State.

    Netherlands Posted by johndoraemi on Sep 17, 2006 at 2:46 PM

    There is no getting around what done to our country.  All the conspiracy theories are ridiculous.  I don’t believe that we went to war simply because 3,000 of our innocent civilians were murdered.  We went to war because our eyes were opened as to how venerable we actually are, and the realization that we could no longer ignore this problem.  We had to take out Saddam 1st because he was our strongest Enemy.  The guys in the caves of Afghanistan are a small time problem compared to the Nations that support them financially and have the firepower to do real damage.
    Why aren’t the everyday Muslims of the world trying to separate themselves from these acts and condemning the radicals.  I haven’t even heard any muslims condemn the radical that wants to kill the Pope because of his comments.  They either have no backbone or they are in agreement.  Freedom of religion should not extend to terrorist groups that use religion as shield to protect them from prosecution.  We are in a war that is more extensive than most people understand.  The US doesn’t want to be at war with anybody in the Middle East but they pose a real threat to our way of life, our freedom, and our economy.  Those things are worth fighting for; they are worth dying for and Bush understood this long ago.  It is time to institute a Draft in this country to gear up for what’s to come; there is no excuse not to serve a country that has given us so much.  Semper-FI

    United States Posted by dduck on Sep 20, 2006 at 8:53 AM
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