Islamic terrorism is a crime. It is not an "act of war" committed by another nation against us.
The plain truth is that, despite all the “we’re at war” mantras issued by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, terrorism is a crime, not an act of war.
But we are at war. Our Military is fighting, waging WAR against two countries: Iraq and Afghanistan. Is this the "War on Terror" you say we are engaged in?
So where does that put President Bush’s “war on terror” along with his “we’re at war” mantra? It puts them in the category of sham — a deadly and destructive sham because, again, terrorism is a crime, not an act of war.
So if we are in a "War on Terror"... Against which Nations? All of them? Against Ourselves in fact?
A never-ending military mission against any country where terrorists are present, including our own? That is, in a word: impossible:
The War on Terror “will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.” - G.W. Bush
The issue is simple and fundamental: It is the perception of violation and harm that initiates the desire to utilize the "tools of terrorism", and waging war to stamp out terrorism only serves to heighten this perception of injury creating more animosity rather than effectively destroying the seeds of it. Put simply, what was supposed to be the cure becomes an agent for transmitting the disease...
As a final point you would use the fact that terrorists were arrested in New York as evidence that the threat is real and that we must remain at war against it. But in truth, and based on the evidence, the War on terror is merely a tool... and you just want to continue using it. And to what use am I referring? (as you innocently shrug):
The discomforting reality that Americans are having a difficult time absorbing is that President Bush and the Pentagon are claiming the same powers over the American people as they are exercising in Iraq. After all, “we’re at war,” aren’t we? And haven’t they repeatedly stated that the entire world is the battlefield in the “war on terror”? Haven’t they repeatedly emphasized that the United States is part of that battlefield? Haven’t they said that the president has the power to ignore constitutional restraints here in the United States in his role as commander in chief of the armed forces during time of war?
We are not fooled. Not one little bit. Bring Home our Troops NOW!