As you’ve probably heard, last night the British police thwarted a major act of terrorism. And, for the time being, you can’t take water, magazines and electronic devices on any flight. Thank goodness the farthest I’m flying in the next month is Victoria. I pity anybody who’s crossing an ocean by air.
The British police and associated agencies deserve our praise for foiling what could have been an attack on a similar scale to 9-11. That, obivously, is a tremendous result.
Here’s the thing, though. It’s been nearly five years since 9-11. It’s been nearly that long since the United States and Great Britain declared ‘a war on terror’. Is this evidence of that war’s success or it’s failure?
I fear that the war on terror has become like the US’s war on drugs: expensive and unwinnable.
I fear that when this war on terror requires invading foreign countries, it can only beget more terrorists. Acts of aggression radicalize average citizens into fundamentalist martyrs. That’s the nature of fundamentalism, and it’s the nature of martyrdom.
Ask the Israelis about Palestine or the Russians about Chechnya. I don’t think they’re hoping to be terror-free any time soon.
Ultimately, I fear that the West will continue emphasizing terrorism, and making it the centre of its political activity. The truth of the matter is this: very few Westerners have died from acts of terrorism. We (and the US in particular) are engaged in a risky conflict with lousy return on investment.
There will always be a time for appropriate military intervention. However, I fear the West’s current approach to the Middle East is bearing strange fruit.
There will, I fear, be no shortage of suitcase-bombers and box-cutter wielders for the rest of our lifetime.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Of course it’s like the War on Drugs – it has been like the beginning, and the motivation, effectiveness, and end results are the same. It doesn’t make any sense to declare a war on a concept, an idea. To quote David Cross, “it’s like declaring a war on jealousy”. How do you win that?
Haven’t you heard? This is what the military-industrial complex built to replace the Soviet Union. Gotta have something to keep the Hoi-Polloi in line. It helps justify the ajenda of the far-right ( we all know that Iraq had nothing to do with Al-Queda, just ask Paul Wolfowitz). Its less about terror, than keeping oil prices high and all George W’s buddies making money. Yes there is a terrorist problem, but the so-called war on terror is simply a means to other ends.
There is a substantial body of evidence all in the public domain(for those who care to search for it !) that the USA has been behind every war since the 1930s either directly or covertly. These pigeons are now coming home to roost. As the archbishop of Canterbury said with regard to the so called war on terror “when all you`ve got is a hammer everything starts to look like a nail” (just in case you haven`t realised the USA is the hammer man with the UK in close attendance, sadly)
Oh dear,
I fear for those that lose their hopes and convictions so quickly.
Please remember that in 2001, the US was not at war with any muslim country and was not occupying any either. The terrorists did not need that sort of “encouragement” for 9\11.
If things to drag on too long with the current hostilities, perhaps the populace will begin to realize that more drastic measures are required.
Now that is something toworry about for everyones sake.
By the way Jules,
where is your “substantial evidence” of US being behind EVERY war simce the 30’s?
You’d think after all this time they’d have mastered the art of war and have had a better handle on the world. Thye aren’t doing a very good job for a sinister country with the world under it heel.
People are being allowed to carry their wallets onto the plane, after all if you are flying long haul and cant bring your own water and snacks its *cha-ching* time for aircraft food carts. Plus since some airlines have recently started charging for checking in baggage, *cha-ching* again!
Oh and of course if your laptop, mobile phone, camera or ipod gets stolen or damaged after you check it in, “please fill out this form and provide receipts and proof of ownership and we’ll consider your case…”.
I’m amazed by the fact that the US has been in this ‘War on Terror’ longer than it was involved in WW2. Unwinnable is exactly right.
It was pretty much defined as unwinnable, since it was a war against a behaviour rather than any one group. Terrorism is never thwarted by war, only started by it. It’s a policing problem, and that’s the only time you ever hear about success – when the police have done their job. War only creates death, period.
Todd: Terrorism isn’t strictly a policing problem–it’s often a problem solved by social change or diplomacy. I’m thinking here of the way the FLQ and IRA were included in the political process, which largely eliminated their threat as terrorist organizations.
Terrorism is ideological. There is little that a literal war can do to snuff out an ideology, short of annihilating everyone who believes in it.
The Soviet Union “lost” the cold war, but organized communism in that country was in full strength for many years later, and still exists in the world today.
World War II stopped Nazi Germany as a country, but certainly didn’t eradicate anti-semitism or “ethnic cleansing” programs. The examples go on and on…
Hit the nail on the head Darren.
I’m just sitting here listening to The National, and as they played a quote from Bush about Americans being safer now than they were five years ago….
I had to ask myself if he seriously thinks that everything they have done has actually improved the situatuion.
If anything, to me, this event illustrates no. Even if the whole approach to dealing with various movements changes, tragically I also feel it is probably too late to stop the ball… yes that means I am also subscribing to your lifetime of threats.
On a side note: I wonder what stories get tossed to tsideline when major news events like this happen?