No. 21 - mr. bush has told the truth

Yes, I must say… there is one thing we have been told that, I concede, is indeed the truth. Let me explain my observation…

It has been recently announced that we may remain in the current war for untold years. There could be no real end in sight because of the many great unknowns now associated with the war on terror.

War On Terror.

Let me examine that…

We all know what war is… the strategic planning and military execution of attacks, both offensive and defensive, on targets. These attacks are used to move the attacking entity towards the specific goal so the attacking force can ultimately win the battle, campaign, or war.

Terror. Hmmm… Webster’s defines it as a state of intense fear. Okay then… let me put this together for the sake of clarification..:

A war on terror means the use of military power to attack places and individuals in order to end intense fear.

So let me take this back to the day when, in 1983 I was in Beirut and 270 of my Marine Corp brothers were killed by a car bomb (actually it was a van). It is true… I was there. I recall the time when the snipers in the area were picking my fellow Marines off in ones and twos for a solid week before the bombing. I recall seeing the results of a sniper shot to the head of an unfortunate Marine. A very scary sight indeed. And I have to tell you I was saturated with an intense fear… and so were many others who were there.

The question is, did the loss of my fellow Marine stop, eliminate, or diminish my fear? Hell no! In fact, it made my fear deepen. It made my resolve to do my best to make a difference and stand my ground greater. It inspired me to join more closely with fellow Marines to insure we got the job done. No matter what anyone could have ever done, I was not going to give ground to my adversary…

As a sidebar… I think there are many young folk, mid-aged and old folk who live with intense fear right here in our community… try going into any “tough” neighborhood and you’ll get a sense of what I mean.
But back to the issue at hand…

In considering this matter I have to agree with mr. bush that the war will take an undetermined amount of time to win because intense war breeds intense fear, intense fear breeds terror, and based upon what I’ve seen in the news I have to say there is definitely more terror spreading in more corners of the world today then ever before. In fact, if I allowed myself to dwell on the prospects of future attacks here in my beloved America, I would be absolutely scared beyond comprehension… call it terrified.

What does all this mean, and where am I going with it? These are reasonable questions. For me, in assessing the situation, I have come to understand that, yet again, words have been used to force a perspective that makes no rational sense. For how can you wage war on an entity that is neither physical, logical, containable, or rational? How can you wage war on a thing that is as personal to the individual as a fingerprint or retinal signature? And, how can you know when the victory is had when every marker is held strictly inside the individual? After all, fear is an emotion.

Hmmm….

The next time I speak to someone regarding this issue and hear them say they support a the war on terror I’ll have to remember that they have bought into a psychology that is devoid of any rational basis because it means they have bought into believing a victory that cannot be gauged or measured, can be attained.

The interesting thing about this conversation is that many have allowed their fears to cloud rational thinking, and bought into an idea that, upon simple scrutiny, doesn’t even make sense.

Would it not have been better if we were at war against those who refused to be controlled or rejected our offers for guidance? Or maybe on those who were plotting to attack our country? I think, while that might have been a harder sell, it would have been a more accurate representation of what this effort is really about.

In my humble opinion, I rather think the many peoples of this great country are quite capable of putting their will behind protecting our interests and values, and become more then willing to do so when we clearly understand what’s at stake. Moreover, I think we act in more focused and united ways when we clearly understand where the real threats are.

Again, mr. bush has told the truth on one major point… the war on terror will continue with no end in sight…

I just wonder what it will take to eradicate intense fear (terror) from the face of the planet…