Friday, March 17, 2006

Why are we at war?

Is it because of 9/11, WMD's, Saddam Houssein? Why? Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to war, or us being trapped in the middle of one. Hey, I'm an American and if our President decides we need to be in a war, and if children want to give their lives fighting for their country, than I am behind you 100%! But I would appreciate the courtesy of knowing why we are fighting and why we are dying?

WHAT really alarms me about President Bush's "war on terrorism" is the grammar. How do you wage war on an abstract noun? It's rather like bombing murder. Imagine if Bush had said: "We're going to bomb murder wherever it lurks. We are going to seek out the murderers and the would-be murderers, and bomb any government that harbors murderers."

On top of all this, you have no idea who the terrorists are. It's in their nature not to be known until they've committed their particular act of terrorism. Otherwise, they're just plain old Tim McVeigh who lives next door, or that nice Mr Atta who's taking flying lessons.

Nobody seems to have told the President that the horrors of September were perpetrated with little more than a couple of dozen box-cutters. I suppose the US could bomb all the stockpiles of box-cutters in the world, but I have a sneaking feeling that it's still not going to eradicate terrorists.

The instigators of September 11 must have been popping the corks on their non-alcoholic champagne. They had successfully provoked America into attacking yet another poor country it didn't previously know much about, thereby creating revulsion throughout the Arab world and ensuring support for the Islamic fundamentalists.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Go here to read the full article.