The ‘War on Terror’ Licenses a New Stupidity in Geopolitics
The language loved by Bush and Musharraf has translated into a global disaster bringing death and misery to millions
Nothing and nobody can stop bombs going off. No citizen, no police force, no army, no government and no global military alliance can prevent a determined suicide bomber from blowing himself up. It will happen and innocent people will die as a result, horribly, as they do on the roads, from drugs and alcohol, or from natural disasters - again without responsible authority being able to stop it.
What is recent is the admission of this truism into the mainstream of government under the rubric of “terrorism”. This week two outgoing presidents, America’s George Bush and Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf, defined their terms of office in relation to terror. Bush did so in his final state of the union message on Monday and Musharraf that same day in London during a charm offensive prior to next month’s elections.
To Bush, the “war on terror” is the ruling mantra of his politics of fear. Since 9/11 gave a prop to his weakening presidency, his language has scaled new heights of alarmist rhetoric. It has validated every internal repression and every external war. “He who is not with us is against us,” he cries. Terrorists everywhere are “opposing the advance of liberty … evil men who despise freedom, despise America and aim to subject millions to their violent rule”.
As the sociologist Ulrich Beck has written, “properly exploited, a novel risk is always an elixir to an ailing leader”. By declaring a threat so awful as to be intolerable, a politician can limit the liberties of a free society in the name of risk-aversion. Musharraf utters hardly a sentence that does not contain the word terror. Pivotally close to the base from which 9/11 was apparently launched, his dictatorship has been indulged by London and Washington for a full seven years. This week Gordon Brown hailed him as a “key ally on terrorism”, enabling him to take comfort in sacking his judiciary and curbing his media.
Had the war on terror been used only as a metaphor for better policing, like rhetorical “wars” on drugs, poverty and street crime, it might have passed muster. Bush and Musharraf have found the military metaphor too potent to resist and duly carried it into literal effect. The result has been a disaster for their countries, and incidentally for themselves.
The west’s Afghan adventure is now devoid of coherent strategy. Soldiers are dying, the opium trade is booming and aid lies undistributed. Command and control of the war against the Taliban is slipping from the most bizarre western occupying force since the fourth Crusade to a tight cabal around the Afghan ruler, Hamid Karzai, who is fighting to retain a remnant of authority in his own capital.
Karzai’s exasperation with the west has led him to refuse the services as “coordinator” of the former Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown. The latter may have cut a dash in the subsidy swamp of Sarajevo, but in Afghanistan he would have been a boy on a man’s errand. Karzai knows well that his fate lies not with the patronising platitudes of western proconsuls but in the hard graft of provincial warlords, drug gangsters and Taliban go-betweens.
These go-betweens have had their status massively boosted by the war on terror. Bush’s demand in 2001 that Musharraf “join the war” sent Pakistani forces into the border territories, breaking old treaties and driving the Pashtun tribes into the eager arms of Taliban leaders. This undoubtedly saved Osama bin Laden’s skin from the fury of the northern Tajiks, committed to avenge his murder of their leader, Ahmed Shah Massoud.
Musharraf, at America’s bidding and with $10bn of American money, has done what even his craziest predecessors avoided, and recklessly set the Pashtun on the warpath - increasingly in thrall to a revived al-Qaida. The result is a plague of suicide bombings and killings in the heartland of his benighted state. From the law courts of America to the mosques of west London and the mountains of the Hindu Kush, the war on terror has been lethally and predictably counter-productive. It embodies the new stupidity in international affairs.
Nobody disputes that there are killer cells at large in the world, most of them proclaiming various Islamist creeds. It is the job of intelligence agencies and the police to catch as many as they can. After a hesitant start, they appear to be quite good at it. Some bombs will get through but they will not be deterred by draconian laws, any more than by machine gun-toting policemen in Downing Street and Heathrow. Robust societies can handle this admittedly intermittent threat. Only weak ones will capitulate to it.
The menace of these killers lies not in their firepower but in their capacity to distort the judgment and commitment to freedom of politicians too cowardly to bear on their shoulders the burden of risk. In two weeks’ time, the fragile democracy of Pakistan will defy the bombers and hold an election prior, it is hoped, to some version of democratic rule. Such communities will defy a probable burst of terror bombs only if their leaders stop setting “terrorists” on a pedestal and using language that exaggerates their capacity, as Bush puts it, “to oppose the advance of freedom”.
It is leaders, not bombers, who have the power to balk the advance of freedom. Already those leaders have used the war on terror to introduce the Patriot Act, Guantánamo Bay and a $1.5 trillion war in Iraq. In Pakistan they have used it as an excuse for emergency rule, the imprisonment of senior judges, and the provocation of unprecedented insurgency in the north-west frontier territories. In Britain leaders have used the war as an excuse for 42-day detention without trial, the world’s most intrusive surveillance state, and not one but two contested military occupations of foreign soil.
This so-called war on terror has filled the pockets of those profiting from it. It has killed thousands, immiserated millions and infringed the liberty of hundreds of millions. The only rough justice it has delivered is to ruin the careers of those who propagated it. Tony Blair was driven to early resignation. Bush has been humiliated and Musharraf’s wretched rule brought close to an overdue end. It may be an ill wind that blows no good, but it is hardly enough.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008
Mr. Jenkins forgot to mention that it was warmongering capitalist pigs that created the so-called “terrorists”. Easy fact for a westerner to overlook. What goes around comes around.
Now that America has responded to “terrorist” tactics with even more imperial violence, it appears that we have them right where they want us.
The empire has lost any semblance of legitimacy and is hemorrhaging money every day.
Simple solution. Share the wealth with developing nations.
From: After The Empire, The Breakdown Of The American Order, by Emmanuel Todd
“ There is no global threat that requires an emergency response by the united States to protect freedoms. Only one threat to global security hangs over the world today—the United States itself, which was once a protector and is now a predator. No strategy, no matter now well thought out, will allow the United States to transform its semi-imperial situation into a full-fledged, legitimate empire. America is too weak economically, militarily, and ideologically. This is why every move intended to reaffirm its control over the world is causing negative blowback that weakens little by little its strategic standing.”
“Every step taken by the Americans to extend their control over the planet turns out to create new problems for them.”
Did you ever watch the Simpsons episode where one bear in the city leads to a massive “Bear Patrol” that wastes tons of taxpayer money? Homer says that since there are no more bears, then the “bear patrol” must be working. His daughter Lisa says that is poor reasoning just as it would be to say that the rock she was holding led to there being no tigers in the city. Homer then tells Lisa that he wants to buy her rock. The episode goes on to also comment about how anti-immigrant messages can be used for political purposes.
Fear and greed have driven the US popular vote in many US elections and now drive most US Congressional voting.
Prior to the Bush Regime takeover, the US electorate had the opportunity to view “Wag the Dog” and absorb its very simple message. The fact that the electorate still 1) supports Senators and Congressional represenatives who fall for fear and greed, and 2) votes for presidential candidates that perpetuate fear and greed, confirms that the US spiral downward to third world status will only accelerate.
Why don’t they just call it a war on shiite muslims? That’s what it is. It a conflict fueled by hatred and bigotry. It has nothing to do with ‘terror’. We attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan (Shi’a Muslims), then attacked Iraq (overthrowing a Sunni but blaming the Shi’a muslims AGAIN for the insurgency), verbally abusing Iran (Shi’a muslims again) and cutting arms deals with the Saudi’s (Sunni Muslims). Until we are adult enough to call it what it really is and expose the racism and bigotry that really keep this ‘war’ going, we will continue to live in a closet of lies and use the word ‘terror’ to cover up the truth.
Until the workers arise and overthrow the imperial capitalists of the military-industrial complex oligarchy that is ruling us, nothing will change.
The GWOT is generating obscene profits from the taxes we are paying to support them, thereby denying benefits of education, health care, fair wages and threatening to dismantle existing safety nets.
The ruling oligarchy has hidden itself in armed secure gated communities and passed legislation removing all constitutional protections and rights from the citizenry.
You won’t see any repealing of emergency measures. They were passed to protect the rich from the masses.
Think about it.
Those standing in the way of corporate agression are labeled as ‘terrorist’ and Everyman is next. It’s small wonder that Mother Earth is rejecting her children.
TheLorax: I believe the Taliban to be Sunni Wahhabist Muslims. I think our war is against any Arab that has the temerity to believe in a just solution to the Palestinian tragedy OR who believes in a sovereign right to manage their oil resources as they please.
As true as much of this article is, it is discouraging that the author did not identify the real underlying cause of this very real war. It is oil of course, and always has been.
Most people (worldwide) at the end of the day know this, yet because we in the west are so vulnerable on this, we let the “war on terror” mantra go unchallenged.
I’ll have to research Churchill’s recently oft-quoted remark that “wars of the future will be wars of the mind” to understand the context in which he made that remark. Superficially, looking at the success of the propaganda campaign known as the “war on terror” you’d suspect that he was quite prescient. But that is only an artificial facade, and this war which will consume much of the present century and involve most of humanity, is about energy resources.
Nothing has changed in 5000 years of “civilization.” What history will record, if anybody is left to record it, will be that America began the petroleum war of the 21st century because a spolied and greedy people could not comprehend or adjust to the reality of a limited planet.
“Nothing and nobody can stop bombs going off. No citizen, no police force, no army, no government and no global military alliance can prevent a determined suicide bomber from blowing himself up. It will happen and innocent people will die as a result, horribly, as they do on the roads, from drugs and alcohol, or from natural disasters - again without responsible authority being able to stop it.”
Sometimes reality really sucks!
That’s why most people refuse to look at it.
Right on J Conrad–This GWOT is nothing more than a jobs program for defense related contractors and a massive transfer of wealth from those of modest means to the super-rich and those who want to be that way.
If we can find a trillion dollars to fight a “war on terror” we could also find a trillion dollars to:
1. Indemnify social security
2. Repair our crumbling infrastructure
3. Provide health care as a benefit of citizenship for all.
4. Rebuild New Orleans and other disaster ravaged areas.
If we use the trillion to fight a war we destroy value and waste precious human and natural resources. If we use the trilion as I have indicated above, we create value and benefit everybody. It really is that simple and those who resist such a wealth transfer for more constructive goals are the real causes of war, violence, and unrest and they know it, but they don’t care because they think they can insulate themselves from the consequences of their actions.
Like the “war on drugs”, the “war on terror” can be a war without end. A war without end is a revenue stream without end for unscrupulous businesses. It is the ultimate corporate welfare program.
A US president declared war on poverty. Poverty won.
Another US president declared a war on drugs. Drugs won.
This US president declared a war on terror. Terror won.
Next?
Cheers.
Terror is an excuse for genocide of Arabs and to turn the US into a police state (and keep Pakistan away from Democracy), not to mention a justification to spending American into an economic depression while giving billions to Pakistan, Israel (to wipe out Palestinians) and Saudi Arabia (keep House of Saud in power and to stay with the dollar).
The war on Poverty and Drugs are just some of the tools to control the people. Poverty was useful to break up black families since if the man worked they would not be eligible for welfare. Drugs were a useful tool incarcerate more blacks and also breaks up families and keeps blacks from breeding, not to mention the spreading of disease. It was also a great revenue generator for black ops (no pun intended).
As for next:
War on Hunger (Food inflation)
War on Disease (Deny affordable Health Care, introduce engineered diseases like HIV, SARS, H5N1)
War on Entitlements (Deny social security, health for the elderly and poor)
War on Unemployment (lower living standards of the citizens by exporting jobs)
War on Overpopulation (forced sterilizations, birth control, abortion, vaccines (HPV), food (GMO ) and water (fluoride) that reduce ferility, engineered diseases)
These are actually happening today here and globally but we have not given them the war label. The common thread they all have is reducing population and making people dependent on government while pretending government is helping the people.
MiMiCcS, Iranians are not Arabs and we want to murder them, Afghanis are not Arabs and we want to murder them. We just Love to murder….
Yea, re;poster reply to TheLorax Taliban are Sunni Wahhabism, Pastun crossovers along with the Shari’ah bellief and the pan-Islamic jihadist view. Whacky, of Muslim family, but they are not true Muslims, they wouldn’t even allow other Muslims to interview them.
If I friggin’ hear War on Terrah, one more time along with NUKular out of bush mouth one more time….
many errors in spelling, no edit, sorry
I like to add a little Bush drawl to it, and call it the “War on Terra” instead. Seems more accurate too.
“bush has been humiliated…”?? please. when america as a country believes that, i will agree.
almost, but not quite, mr. jenkins connects the dots. what he should have said, in reference to “…killer cells at large in the world…”, is that the largest killer cell currently resides in the u.s. white house. and the majority of americans sit on their fat lazy asses honoring such a cell.
It’s not just that you can’t stop a suicide bomber. It’s also that, as technology for message repetition and “copycatism” grows, and populations in poverty grow, idealogues can actually recruit LARGE numbers of people willing to do this deed. We laugh about the 72 virgins thing here. There, they don’t laugh. The temptation to use one’s otherwise difficult life to gain eternal honor is very real, and we’re silly if we think this phenomenon is going away anytime soon.
JConrad : you’ve put your finger squarely on the root of the problem.
For the West its always been a case of ‘we shall overcome ‘ - and subjugate . ( With an ever-lovin’, ever indulgent God always on ‘our’ side.)
Daniel David, knowing you, and a couple of others like you, are keeping watch for this dangerous phenomenon I’ll sleep much better at night. And during daytime naps, too.
Poet, you’re right that the resisters of a wealth transfer DO think they can insulate themselves from the consequences of their actions, but I believe they are wrong. If there’s a God, He knows exactly who is wasting resources on killing that should be used for constructive purposes which benefit humanity. God, if He exists, has no confusion about who is deserving of which reward, and when and if He returns, no amount of wealthy insulation is going to protect the despoilers when He arrives. It may yet take some time until we see some proof that there is a God, because the God of Abraham described in the Old Testament comes at the last minute when things are as desperate as they can get.
Lino, the majority of Americans do not “sit on their fat lazy asses honoring such a cell” as the White House. Many of us are just trying to get to our jobs every day, make ends meet, keep a roof over our heads, get food, and keep from becoming homeless and hungry. Many are old and tired. I’ve been revolted by the White House on and off for almost 40 years, and I’ve never felt more sickened by the White House than now; but I’m too tired to take to the streets. I just want to grow old eating and breathing. What would you suggest we do? Our own Representatives in Congress seem too afraid to stand up to these hoodlums in the Executive branch.