"Terrorism" will never go away..

[SoCalDem]

That tactic has been used FOREVER, by all kinds of people in all kinds of places..

We just need to GROW UP, and accept the fact that we can never be 100% "safe" (whatever that means these days)..

What we CAN do, is have realistic goals, serious diplomacy, even-handed treatment of ALL countries (even the ones we don't like)..

Think about it.. Are the Finns or Swedes being attacked?..the Swiss?..the Jamaicans?

If you go around pissing people off (and figuratively pissing ON people), you will make some enemies.

Other countries cannot (and don't even want to) fight us with weapons like we have.. they prefer to use human-bombs, car-bombs and cheap-ass RPGs to take down our expensive equipment and to kill and maim as many people as they can.. Why would they even try another way? They way they have chosen, works just fine for them, and makes us jumpy, frustrated and incompetent.

They have not struck here since 01 because they are not ready..

We need to grow up, and accept the fact that our elections have dire consequences..

We "elect" warmongers, and guess what? we get WAR..

It's just that simple..

[ClintonTyree]

1. Europeans have dealt with this for decades.....

and we're going to have to do the same. As you say, it's not going away and we're NOT going to win any nebulous "war on terra'". I feel as much sadness about the events of 9/11/01 as anyone, but yesterday's 24/7 pity and photo-opfest was a little too much. If Europeans had remembrances for all of the terror attacks they've suffered nothing would ever get done: they'd be having 24/7 remembrance services.
Americans love their pity parties. We think we're the only people that matter on earth so we'll continue to milk this for all it's worth for decades to come.
No one seems to be addressing the CAUSE of these terror attacks. We're to caught up in the revenge for this act and never take time to find out WHY these people are doing what they're doing. Just kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out. :eyes:

[NMMNG]

2. Indeed

And if I hear "we live in a post-9/11 world" one more time I will scream.

Terrorism and terrorist attacks existed prior to 9/11 and America did not shrivel up, induce constant paranoia in the general populace, piss on the Constitution, and turn into a fascist dictator state in response. We handled things in a rational manner, realizing that terrorism existed, had existed and would continue to exist. We knew that attacking people with little or no provocation only leads to more problems--not docile masses willing to do our bidding.

Then the "war president" took over and all hell broke loose.

[SoCalDem]

7. Isn't it sad? The son of a "wimp", himself a chicken,

has dragged us into two wars, he and his kind don't have to fight, and in doing so, has turned half a country into sniveling scaredy cats.

We are like a musclebound knucklehead, loaded down with weapons, staggering around, shoelaces tied together, as the agile, crafty enemy pierces our most vulnerable parts, with pinpoint accuracy..

[Jawja]

9. I will join you in that scream.

"9/11 changed us" is code for "no more Constitution, no more Bill of Rights - get used to it."

[donheld]

3. We here at DU fight three kinds of terrorist.

Radical Muslims, Radical Christians and big Business.

[Spurt]

4. Off to the greatest.

A huge message delivered with few words in stark clarity.
The title is a critical observation.

[ERF]

5. What this thread points out is something particularly scary

based on the world in which we now live. Indeed terrorism, and suicide missions, have been tactics since the beginning of human civilization. It is an effective strategy when there is an asymmetric power relationship.

However not all movements that employed terrorist tactics were nihilistic, nor backward looking as is the Islamic fundamentalism that provides a religious basis for justifying the attacks in our current circumstance.

An enemy who wishes to destroy, rather than conquer and dominate civilization and is willing to commit suicide to do so combined with weapons that are powerful enough to kill millions of people is something completely new (with perhaps the Mongol Hordes as the only exception).

While biological and chemical weapons are currently not so easy to come buy, technological progress may see their cost and availability of the necessary ingredients and knowledge create much lower barriers. It will then simply become a matter of how individuals intend to employ that power. That is what makes the modern terrorist a so-called "super-empowered individual".

Only constant surveillance of nearly all citizens would eliminate that possibility. It would also eliminate all freedoms eventually as such power would inevitably be misused.

That much said, American Democracy has lasted an unusually long amount of time. And nothing lasts forever.

[phiddle]

6. "The tactic has been used FOREVER"

Yeah, think of the Trojan horse. The Greeks leave a hollow statue full of soldiers outside of the gates of Troy. The Trojans take it into the city and the Greeks slip out under cover of darkness to kill and maim civilian non-combatants.
"Terrorism" is such a perfect foil for the warmongers. The definition is slippery, and endlessly suitable for propaganda. As a tactic, like you say, it will ALWAYS be present, hence, always available to justify war.

[mmonk]

8. Which means our civil liberties are underfire for the long term

unless we somehow stop this train amd get America back in sync.

[riona]

10. Rolling Stone article - good read

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11598509/national_affairs_president_bushs_phony_war_on_terror

"5. TERRORISM CAN'T BE DEFEATED -- EVER
Terrorism is not an enemy, but a method. As such, it can never be defeated -- only contained and reduced. Even if the United States were to wipe out every terrorist cell in the world today, terrorism would be back tomorrow, because new grievances and new cries for revenge will continue to create new terrorists."

[slaveplanet]

11. but didn' you know it's

convienient to declare war on a tactic, it achieves the same goals as a war on real enemies, and it never ends.

[truckin]

12. It is sad that no politicians express this view. Can they not get

elected if they state this common sense strategy instead of the unspoken policy of getting involved in other countries business and causing pain and suffering to untold numbers of innocent civilians?

You have made some excellent points.

[SoCalDem]

13. Politicians are beholden to their "donors"

so , of course they would not use common sense.. They seem to always do things the hard way.. Look at the health care issues, or jobs or education..or anything..

It's sad to see all that possibility...wasted..

Every time I see one on tv bloviating about healthcare, I always think of the people who are sick NOW, and are hanging on every word, and praying that there will so come hope for them...and then they find out yet again , that the billl benefits drug companies and HMOs..

[FoxOnTheRun]

14. You have to

resolve all those ABC agencies and get more oversight what they are actually doing drug running money laundering etc isn't a good thing.

Controlling reality and creating reality isn't always a good thing


Remember Hitler called the Resistance terrorists