I'm going come right out and say it. There ain't no war on terror!

[devilgrrl]

This is 1984 Eurasia vs. Eastasia Emmanuel Goldstein bullshit and I'm sick of it.

[otherlander]

1. Shut up and drink your Victory Gin, prole!

:crazy:

But you're right, of course.

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

37. But there WILL be if we keep killing "them." Remember "Bring 'em on!"?

Now we, sadly, know what King George meant.

[marmar]

2. You better know it...

Bee stings kill far more people in America than terrorism ever has or ever will. Where's the War on Bees? The alleged "War on Terror," like "The War on Drugs," is a massive, expensive fraud.

[CrispyQ]

6. The War on Bees

:rofl:

[Bitter Cup]

I know the secret of the Bees

:D

[Bitter Cup]

29. apparently it involves double posting

grrrr I hate button lag.

[joe_shmoe]

3. Amen Sister

I'm just amazed at how many "intelligent" people buy this bullshit.

I swear the same people who write for the WWF are hired to fabricate this bullshit.

The perfect enemy that is invisible, can reside in any country you feel you need to invade. The most perfect tool for a world domination agenda.

Case in point:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/04/wirq04.xml

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html?nav=most_emailed

Why the fuck don't these articles raise any suspicians?

[stellanoir]

4. "you can't wage war on an abstract noun."

Furthermore it's completely oxymoronic since all war IS terror so it's totally self defeating and will forever only perpetuate the problem of global violence.

The absurdity would be funny if it wasn't so tragically destructive to so many lives.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

46. Bush's War on an Emotion displaying severe fright

THAT is even worse.

[Alexodin]

5. I'm so glad you said this, I also do not believe "terror" is real.

Yes I believe that there are violent fundamentalist extremists in the middle east but what is now referred to as Al Quaida is an outgrowth of the CIA created and backed Mujahadien. I will probably win some kind of tin foil hat award for this but I don't care. Call me what you will I believe Osama and Cheney mutually benefit each other. The BFEE's connections to Saudi Arabia's royal family are legion. Why is this even controversial?

[devilgrrl]

9. I believe there is terrorism...

but I don't believe that there's a "war against it"...

Perpetual war for perpetual peace, it's about commerce.

[Alexodin]

13. Then it follows that those conducting such a false war also do

not believe terrorism is real does it not? Lets complete this thought. If the war in Afghanistan is to protect Unocal's pipeline and the war in Iraq is to suppress Iraqi oil production and loot the treasury for private gain then is terror not entirely too convenient? I think its a reasonable postulate given the myriad of connections of criminals, traitors, and foreign intelligence networks to the BFEE that terror is the product of a vast conspiracy. Though NOT ALWAYS.

There are many fine publications on this subject that have nothing to do with crack pottedness. Yes terrorists exist and the biggest terrorists in the world occupy the Whitehouse.

[librechik]

16. hey--Bechtel doesn't profit off lone terrorists-Shrub declares they are

state sponsored so his croneys can make billions for the next generation off an (unbeatable) tactic used almost exclusively by independent fringe groups.

To Quote Ministry: "Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie Lie Lie Lie--Surprise surprise surprise. "

[Jeffersons Ghost]

20. sure it's REAL! did you hear about Miami yesterday?

It's REAL stupid and REAL propaganda! and REAL dangerous when the government starts arresting citizens on either true or trumped up charges.

[novalib]

40. EXACTLY!

"Terrorism" is merely a construct of the Bush Cabal Thug Regime.

The desire of that gang of thugs is to completely and totally rule the entire world -- and keep them in total abject subjugation!

Of course, step one in such a plan must be to subdue the people of the United States.

How better to do that than to scare the hell out of them?

The "act of terror" that happened on 9/11 was nothing more than the act of some power-hungry mad insane people who had gained power by means of an illegitimate power-grab in 2000!!

THEY are the ones who committed the "terror"!!

They appear to be at war with "Al Quaida" -- but in reality, Al Quaida is just another group of the Bush Cabal Thug Regime.

Bush and Co only appear to be at war with themselves!

They want us to think that they must wage war -- and that we must give up our rights to privacy and free speech!

There is NO war on terror -- only a war on the American people and all the rest of the people on the planet!!!!

[deaniac21]

7. Cars kill 50,000 of us a year. The war should be against cars.

[Amonester]

8. The War on Cars

Count me in! :thumbsup: :toast:

[banana republican]

48. Detroit Attacks; SUV's = 1, Cooper mini's = 0 n/t

[originalpckelly]

23. Or Murders that kill about 15-17,000, or cancer that kills 500,000...

or heart disease that kills 700,000.

Dealing with death is a part of life.

[Poiuyt]

24. Cigarettes kill 400,000 Americans a year. Let's declare a "War on Smoking"

[devilgrrl]

26. That seems to be the only environmental issue taken seriously...

too bad it's like putting a bandaid over a gunshot wound in the scheme of things. Smoking isn't melting the polar ice cap

[bunkerbuster1]

10. But the chocolate rations are double-plus good!

I agree fully. There is no war on terror. It was bullshit from the word "go."

[aikoaiko]

11. I don't get it.

Do you not believe that terrorists have attacked us and our allies in the past?

Do you not think that there are terrorists plotting how to attack the US?

Do not think there are efforts to stop those plots?

Christ, the freaks even plotted against Canada.

Having said that I do not think Iraq was a major threat. But once we went into Afghanistan (which I think was a righteous invasion), I'm sure the " great minds" thought it would be good for US for both countries to have US friendly governments so that Afghanistan wouldn't be surrounded and there would be sea access (which is not a righteous reason).

[WinkyDink]

31. there are terrorists. But there were in other decades as well:

Baader-Meinhof; Red Brigades; Black September; IRA; Basque Separatists; etc. There were plane hijackings; airport (Rome)and train station (Bologna) bombings and massacres; kidnappings and assassinations (Aldo Moro); murder on cruise ships; plane bombings (PanAm 103); attacks on tourists; murders of Olympic athletes.

But NEVER was a DESTRUCTIVE and INSANE "WAR" declared against these criminals that included BOMBING A SOVEREIGN NATION and KILLING INNOCENT CIVILIANS.

[K-W]

32. Not to mention state terrorism, whos victims are legion. EOM

[LibertyorDeath]

12. When you spend close to half a $ trillion a year of tax payer

money on your War machine there has to be a Boogey man
or people start asking questions.

There will be a new enemy when they are done with this one
but it seems like they've struck gold with this one.



THE NATION

Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman?

Robert Scheer

Is it conceivable that Al Qaeda, as defined by President Bush as the center of a vast and well-organized international terrorist conspiracy, does not exist?

To even raise the question amid all the officially inspired hysteria is heretical, especially in the context of the US media's supine acceptance of Administration claims relating to national security. Yet a brilliant new BBC film produced by one of Britain's leading documentary filmmakers systematically challenges this and many other accepted articles of faith in the so-called war on terror.

The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear, a three-hour historical film by Adam Curtis recently aired by the British Broadcasting Corp., argues coherently that much of what we have been told about the threat of international terrorism "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians. It is a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services and the international media."


Stern stuff, indeed. But consider just a few of the many questions the program poses along the way:

More
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050124/scheer0111

[LibertyorDeath]

14. The Power of Nightmares

This documentary should be required viewing for everyone.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1002626006461047517

[Beelzebud]

22. Yeah Power of Nightmares is an eye-opener.

And it even features John Carpenter's music to boot. :D

[madokie]

15. it is the war on the middle class, they are doing all they can for the

lower class like no raises so's they can keep them there because that is where they are needed, oh and there, is where we are all headed

[Jeffersons Ghost]

17. Kicked and Recommended! there you have it! good OP

[libnnc]

18. K&R: I'm goddamned sick of it too

:mad:

[90-percent]

19. It's so unfair....

After Katrina, we should have gotten a "War on Hurricanes" or a "War on Really Bad Weather", but nada, zippo, nuthin......

American lost a little more than half the souls we lost on 9/11, and we don't even get a good war over it? talk about getted gypped!

-85% jimmy

[leftofthedial]

21. you don't mean that the chocolate ration really has not been increased

do you?

[originalpckelly]

25. Did you hear about the "North America Union"?

It will combine Canada, USA, and Mexico into one big federation like the EU. Of course the EU is about half the size of the USA alone, and in the three different areas there are on three countries, there are only three languages. We don't need an NAU like they need the EU.

[Raster]

27. Halliburton is up 600% since 9/11 and no longer is on the verge of

bankruptcy. Darth cheney has made $94 million MOST OF WHICH WHILE ON THE PUBLIC DOLE. exxon posts RECORD PROFITS EACH QUARTER. Each quarter. And finally, the armaments and munitions industries are having their best years ever. They're going great guns. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) For my ten cents, the so-called "war on terror" is just an elaborate shell game so the military/industrial complex along with their partners the Texas white-boy petroleum mafia can suck us dry. We are being plundered and pillaged, and our compliance is ensured by the "war on terra."

[RobertSeattle]

28. Hmmm, Let's see..

World War II renamed "War against Sneak Attacks from Sea"
World War I renamed "War against Armies who wear funny hats"

:Evilgrin:

[Cleita]

30. No kidding, terror is an emotion.

Now terrorists are a different matter and terrorists can be anywhere, just not only in Iraq. So why aren't we leaving this to the CIA like we have in the past?

[90-percent]

33. WWI???

Thought that was a war against archduke assassins?

-85% Jimmy

[Cleita]

42. I thought the Archduke's assassination only triggered WWI.

The unrest between nations was already there. They would have gone to war regardless of the Archduke eventually, or was my history teacher uninformed?

That aside, I find that islamic terrorists work much like the IRA and are based worldwide rather than in just one country. There are many terrorists in east Asia as well as the Middle East.

They operate in cells like the IRA, so that if one cell is taken down the rest are still around because the cells operate independently and are hard to pinpoint. It takes covert activity to ferret them out, which is what I assume Valerie Plame was doing before she was outted.

[paparush]

34. You, m'am, are quite obviously a Home Grown Terrahist, who hates Bush's

Freedom to hate our freedom.

[Terran1212]

35. How dare you put down the Kool-Aid?!

[sethBernbaum]

36. Good Analogy

[newyawker99]

44. Hi sethBernbaum!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Initech]

38. It's not a war on terror, it's a war on personal freedoms.

This is just the war on drugs multiplied by 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Keep that in mind at all times.

[Odin2005]

39. There was no Cold War, either.

The threat posed by the USSR was greatly exaggerated by the elites in order to legitimise the M-I Complex (remember the fake "missle gap"?), in reality the USSR was too busy taking care of itself to care about supporing world-wide revolution (the USSR's leaders used "we will bury you" rhetoric, pit was mostly for the consumption of thier own citizens). Islamic terrorism has nothing to do about "hating us for our freedoms," it's about anger among middle-class muslims against us supporting despots in the Islamic word, especially the House of Saud in SA, Mushariff in Pakistan, and Mubarak in Egypt; and our support of Israel. Islamic terrorism is the new boogyman to replace the old godless communist boogeyman in order to keep up support for the M-I Complex.

[Jigarotta]

41. uber pirate capitalism cannot survive without a good 'ism'.

and terrorism is their pot of gold. even better than communism - no borders, change laws in your own country - keep the little guy and gal down - pay no heed to international law - etc. etc. etc.

I think the real enemy ism is capitalism, in the form that it is know by now - rampant pillage.

[many a good man]

43. $3,000,000,000,000

Iraq alone will cost three trillion dollars that we don't have. That's above and beyond the half trillion yearly for "defense" against abstract nouns in the rest of the world (that we don't have).

The next abstract noun we declare war against ought to be Insanity.

[mhatrw]

45. Digby's great take on this subject.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_digbysblog_archive.html#114902553871278226

I have long thought and written that the "Global War On Terror" (GWOT) is a false construct. And common sense says to most people that it is pretty nonsensical. We might as well have a war on sadness or a war on jealousy or a war on hate. Terror is a human emotion and you can't fight a war against it. In fact, war creates it. But then it isn't really fair to deride it as a "war on terror," is it? That's just the shortcut phrase. The real term is "war on terrorism" which makes just as little sense but in a different way. Terrorism is a method of warfare -- a specific type of cheap and dirty violence which is not eradicatable, certainly not eradicatable by force. It is special only in the sense that it makes no distinctions between civilians and warriors. (And even if you could eliminate a particularly harsh and inhumane method of warfare, it would certainly make no sense at all to try to do it by throwing aside all civilized norms and engaging in even more odious taboos like torture.) When you think about it, a "war on terrorism" is actually a "war on warfare" which kind of brings the whole damned thing home, doesn't it? ... Using war to eradicate terror or terrorism is an oxymoron. And yet the nation has been drunkenly behaving as if it is a real war, spending the money, deploying the troops, inflicting the violence.

Setting Iraq aside, which was a simple imperialist invasion with no ties to this threat of terrorism, we are dealing with a "war" against certain stateless people who are loosely affiliated with Muslim extremism but could just as easily be nationalists or Christian fanatics or even environmentalists, as our justice department has recently decreed. Make no mistake: the GWOT is not a simple shorthand for fighting the "Islamofascists." Islamic extremism is an ideology centered in a religion and it has no "place" -- it is not a nation or even a people. Warfare as it has been understood for millenia will not "beat" it. The GWOT masterminds knew this which is why the phrase War on Terrorism was coined: it represents a permanent state of war, which is something else entirely. This is the problem. This elastic war, this war against warfare, this war with no specific enemy against no specific country is never going to end. It cannot end because there is no end. If the threat of "Islamofascism" disappears tomorrow, there will be someone else who hates us and who is willing to use individual acts of violence to get what they want. There always have been and there always will be. Which means that we will always be at war with Oceania.

...It is long past time for people to start the public counter argument, which has the benefit of appealing to common sense. Many Americans are emerging from the relentless hail of propaganda that overtook the nation after the traumatic events of 9/11. Iraq confused people for a while, but that confusion is leaving in its wake a rather startling clarity: the "war" as the government defines it is bs. It will take a while for this common sense to become conventional wisdom, but it certainly won't happen if nobody is willing to say it out loud. What we do about Islamic fundamentalism is a topic we must deal with. I suspect that it will take a global effort and a willingness to deal intelligently with the impending global oil crisis. There will be other challenges as well, including potential wars and regional strife and any of the other things that have marked civilization from the beginning. All peoples must deal with such things. But there is no war on terrorism. The nation is less secure because of this false construct. We are spending money we need not spend, making enemies we need not make and wasting lives we need not waste in the name of something that doesn't exist. This is as politically incorrect a statement as can be made in America today. But it's true.

[Mabus]

47. I disagree

There is a war on terror but is better named a war of terror. It is being perpetrated upon the American people by the Bush administration. The Bushies are aided in the war of terror on the American people by the press.