cannabisnews.com: We Can't Fight Terror Everywhere We Can't Fight Terror Everywhere Posted by FoM on November 12, 2001 at 21:47:58 PT By Richard Cohen Source: Washington Post The impudent Indian reporter was impatient. "Sir," he cried out to George Bush last week at the White House, "why are there two laws in this world, one for America and one for the rest of us? When terrorism hits America, you go halfway around the world and make war in Afghanistan. But when we suffer terrorism, you ask us to be restrained. Is an Indian life less precious than an American life?" Not a bad question. But Bush's answer, while fine for that moment, was incomplete. He said what he has been saying since Sept. 11: Terrorism is wrong wherever it is practiced, no matter who practices it and for whatever reason. "I think there is one universal law, and that's terrorism is evil, and all of us must work to reject evil." He added that the United States had condemned the Oct. 1 terrorist attack in Kashmir, which took 38 lives. With that, he moved on.Not so fast, Mr. President. This declaration of war against all terrorism anywhere is becoming a liability. It enables one national leader after another to smugly wonder what we are talking about, and shifts the spotlight from Osama bin Laden and his band of psychopaths to, say, events in Kashmir. Yet Bush persists. "We're asking for a comprehensive commitment to this fight," Bush told the United Nations on Saturday. "We must unite in opposing all terrorists, not just some of them."It's a laudable aim but one that's clearly beyond us. It may well involve us in a quagmire not unlike the one in Vietnam and obfuscate our war aims -- once again, as happened in Vietnam. It was bin Laden who allegedly murdered Americans. It is he -- not the pro-Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir -- who is our enemy and who must be hunted down and, as the cliche goes, brought to justice. No one gets to murder Americans.But the rest -- all those other terrorist groups -- are much more problematic. In the first place, much of the Islamic and especially the Arab world rejects applying the label to terrorist activity directed at Israel. That means not only the passive Palestinian Authority but also Hamas and Islamic Jihad and their sponsors in the Middle East -- Syria, Iraq and, most particularly, Iran, the strangest bedfellow yet produced by the politics of this situation. We cannot make war on much of the Middle East.Do we intervene somehow in Indonesia? What about Northern Ireland, if the peace there should once again collapse? Do we take on Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka -- while at the same time hunting down bin Laden and fighting the Taliban? Not a chance. And what about the plethora of guerrilla groups in Colombia, the so-called narco-terrorists? It's more than we can handle.The danger is that we will lose our focus. The word "war" has become such a cliche -- war on cancer, drugs, poverty or, in the moral equivalency once promulgated by Jimmy Carter, energy profligacy -- that we don't recognize the real thing when it comes along. The attempt to get bin Laden and his Taliban protectors is a war. It is not a metaphor. It involves killing, and when you are riddled with bullets, you are not metaphorically dead, you are dead in actual fact.All this talk about a war virtually without limits does more than muddle our message abroad. It also enables critics here at home to nibble at, and niggle over, the real war. This impetus to make the present situation the rough equivalent of World War II has already led the Bush administration to embark on a clutch of programs lacking only the Andrews Sisters for chirpy accompaniment. There's something called the "Lessons of Liberty Initiative" and the "Friendship Through Education" program and a new kind of civil defense which will do something -- it's not clear what. And oh, yes, in furtherance of the war effort, the president says "you can serve your country by tutoring or mentoring a child." C'mon.Permit me a caveat to my own doctrine: Iraq. That's because the regime of Saddam Hussein really is a global menace. Its threat is not limited to terrorism of the sort we have experienced here but also encompasses nuclear, chemical and biological proliferation. This is something we must deal with.But the rest is not in that category of menace. It should be our policy to eradicate terrorism, to fight it as best we can and, in particular, to have others join the fight. But there is a distinction between the implementation of policy and the waging of war. We're in a war now with an identifiable enemy. For the time being, that's challenge enough.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Richard CohenPublished: Tuesday, November 13, 2001; Page A31 Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.comRelated Articles:FBI Rushes To Remake Its Mission http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11324.shtmlWODs Works in Opposition To Battle On Terrorismhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11315.shtml Backyard Terrorism - Guardian Unlimitedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11223.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by dddd on November 14, 2001 at 01:25:17 PT to further expound on the comments of that.... ..wierd-ass qqqq guy,,,,,I was watching PI w/Bill Maher tonite,(which I can barely stand to watch anymore) ...(Alec Baldwin is cool),,,,anyway,,,what my thought is,,for your perusal,,,is;...How do we know what we think we know?,,,it's an old philisophical question,but it is very relevant concerning the discussions surrounding this "war on terror".....It seems that everyone is convinced,that the things they have "learned" ,from the government controlled news,is factual information,,but if you take a second look at the picture,,the only thing most people "know",and blindly believe,,is what the "news" has told them.For all we know,,bin Laden is/(was), in control of a small group of radicals....No one really knows who the "Al-Quieda" are,,or if they really even exsist as the "terrorist network",that they supposedly are....Same with the Taleban....I'm not saying that there's not some nasty,bad guys that actually exsist in organized groups of "biker gangs without motorcycles",,,,,,but all we know,,is what we have been told,,and what we have been told is from a very limited source....You see guys like Bill Maher talk about these "terrorist networks",as if they were factual entities,yet,the only information he has got,is from a distorted,and filtered propaganda machine.To trust the national media now days,is like believing in Santa Claus,,,so,,I think people should remember to beware of what they hear,and believe,,,,,,,,it's the"the Santa Clause"...In the same way as children,many of us believed that Santa Claus was actually real,because our parents told us he exsisted,,as adults,we tend to believe many other things exsist,because we are told they do...And that includes my own suggestions of such abstract conspiracy ramblings....I know my comments are a bit on the confused,and dissoriented side as of late,,,,but at least I wrote them...I just hope they weren't too much of a hassle to read,or dissapointing their content......................time to get stonedddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by qqqq on November 13, 2001 at 22:56:38 PT verbose ramblingizations ...Here's part of how I see it;...First off,,before we even seriously discuss this as the "war" on terror,,we must realize,that this is a fraudulently fabricated concept,that has been conjured up,and is now accepted as a legitimate war...The term "war on drugs",was ridiculous enough,and as the article points out,the "war" cliche',had its' origin with the "war on cancer",,or the war on illiteracy..... The definition of the word "terror"(..ism & ..ist),is the key element that must be defined before anyone seriously discusses a "war on terror",,but much like "drugs",the term has been left in the twilight zone of assumed meaning ,,,and has been colored by the deceptive rhetoric of the government/media...It's kinda like the shrub,and the Empire,have become the leaders of a huge CULT!..If you know anything about how spiritulist cults work, then I think it will not be hard to recognize significant similarities between religious cult endoctrination,and the manipulation of this country by the government,on a massive scale...Any successful cult has several basic elements.The first thing a cult needs is to a "bad guy",or an "evil"...Obviously,the "devil",or satan usually plays this role...In cults such as scientology,this role is twisted into being those who are labelled as opposing the false reality of the cults' doctrines.....All of a sudden,here we are,with a public that has been convinced that the people responsible for "terror",are bin Laden,Al Quieda,Taleban....but there is one very important thing missing,and that is the "who says",,and "how do they know"...For example,if I say;"US government has slaughtered hundreds of innocent people,,and raped the Constitution in false terror war!",,it means nothing,(except the risk being labeled a "terrorist"),,but if I have control of the national media,and I say that,then people will believe it as the truth that it is....The ability of a government to have almost complete control over media content,is by far the most alarming problem for the true American Patriots today.If the government can control the media,and design the "news",then that government is one that no longer needs to answer to the people...it is a government that can create its own massive cult of followers,,and one that can crush dissenting voices,by villification,and fabrication of criminalization.They can easily convince the population,that the situation is a justification for mobilization towards the erradication of of their conceptualizaton of "evil".(sorry for all the "..ations",,they are for entertainmentization of my verbalizations) ..... So..I'm not gonna attempt to make a cheap summarization of my akward dissertation,,other than to say;Beware of the administration!...make your own analyzation,,,and most of all,,,try to stay happy... [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on November 13, 2001 at 05:46:39 PT Start at home! If we're going after terrorists wherever they are, how about going after the 30 DEA agents who raided the LACBC? Or the 120 federal agents who were present at Vandalia, MI? Or the School of the Americas? School of the Americas watch [ Post Comment ] Post Comment