Words of the Wise

"Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do."
~ Voltaire

What's So Funny Bout Peace Love and Understanding

It's been over three years since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, yet we are still on an endlessly heightened terror alert. We are still fighting wars with no end in sight. We still feel that twinge of apprehension and suspicion whenever we get on a plane or ride a train. We're constantly warned about the possibility of impending attacks during this election, or that one or the inauguration or some other event. It would seem after all this time that we are still no closer to winning the war on terror than we ever were. And despite what was repeatedly said during the presidential campaigns and subsequent debates, the reason for that may be that we're approaching this war from the wrong direction, by seeking revenge rather than seeking answers.

Aside from the inherent difficulties of declaring war on a state of mind, perhaps one of the major reasons that the war on terror looks rather unwinable at this point is that in the minds of many it is a war grounded in religion rather than foreign policy. For most of the terrorists this is a religious war, a full-blown jihad aimed at destroying us, the infidels. But if we take the same approach, as Jerry Falwell's advocation to "blow them all away in the name of the Lord" frighteningly suggests, then we become no different from the radical religious ideology that we purport to disapprove of. Was it Jesus who uttered those fabled words so long ago: "Go forth and kill anyone who doesn't believe the same as you in the name of God the Father, and do so joyfully so that it will be pleasing unto the Lord"? Because Jesus wasn't into that whole "love thy neighbor" or "turn the other cheek" thing at all. Then there is the backwards logic of using religion to justify murder. Because God preached death, not peace, hate, not love, and blind agression, not understanding, or so it would seem. But by doing this we only become terrorists ourselves.

As much as I wanted John Kerry to win the election, there were still certain things about his campaign that bothered me. One was his tendency to repeat the phrase "I will hunt down and kill the terrorists" over and over and over again. Now, repetition has been proven as much by the current administration as anyone else to be an effective way of convincing people to believe almost anything, but there was something about the way he said it that left me unconvinced. Perhaps his apparent discomfort at just speaking the words out loud. Granted, John Kerry looks uncomfortable doing pretty much anything, but it seemed like it was more than that, like even as he said it he knew that it wasn't really the answer. But he also knew that it was the only answer that the American people would be willing to accept. A leader who would seek to find and eliminate the source of terrorism by taking an introspective look at U.S. foreign policy and the history of disagreement between the United States and the Middle East would be a leader weak in the war on terror. We can only commit to someone who can commit to killing our present enemies, no matter how many future ones that creates.

Why then do our enemies in this vague, ill-defined war hate Americans with such fervor? Well, not because of "our freedoms," no matter what Bush & Co. would have you believe. Certainly there is a difference in values and morality; Americans of all people should have no trouble understanding that. But more than that, it is our foriegn policy and the way that the U.S. deals with other nations, especially Islamic nations in the Middle East, and America's seeming disrespect for all things muslim. Bin Laden himself has stated his reasons for his agression toward the United States on numerous occasions, among them the perpetual presence of the U.S. in the gulf region, specifically Saudi Arabia, and at Islam's most sacred religious sites. Not long ago an American soldier shot and killed a wounded, unarmed Iraqi in a mosque. The event was shown repeatedly on television across Iraq and the gulf region, while in the United States we blindly continue to believe that they are simply jealous of our freedom.

The war on terror can be won. But not by blowing all the terrorists into little pieces. Violence only begets more violence and with what is perceived by many muslims as a war on Islam, we are perpetuating a violent cycle of hate and revenge. No matter how many terrorists we succeed in killing, there will always be more that are ready and willing to take their place. Taking out Osama bin Laden may prove to be an indelible victory, but if that happens it will only be one battle that is won, not the war. The only way to win the war on terror now is to address the problem from its source. We must realize our own mistakes and take responsibility for the things we've done, and continue to do, that breed terrorism and anti-American hatred abroad, and then work to correct those past and present grievances. We all have to live together on this planet somehow; there must be a better way to do it than by endlessly trying to blow each other up.