Terror

What is terrorism? Who are the elusive bearers of terror? The dictionary gives a a fairly blunt and pointed explanation; ter·ror·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (tr-rzm)
n.
The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

Terror being tossed around like hot potato at a kindergarten party means simply; Main Entry: ter·ror
Function: noun
: an intense fear of physical injury or death <inflict terror by forced entry or unlawful assembly>; also : the infliction of such fear <an act of terror>

Ok now for my problem with all of this. I am sick with the fear mongering politicians screaming on the hillside that the wolves are at the door. What wolves? Who are they exactly? Is it anyone who does not agree with them...is it anyone with a weapon of mass destruction?

As a child I learned not to fear that which I could not see...I learned after a while that there was not a monster under my bed, that my darkened room was no different than the one I played in during the day. I also learned that bad things can happen but it doesn't mean that everyday will be bad. If I fell of of my bike and scratched my knees, my parents did not cry out for the destruction of all bikes. Now my government is asking me to fear terror ...to live in constant fear of attack...to live in 1984 with an invisible enemy lurking over my shoulder. They want me to fear the monster under the sands.

The attack of 9/11 was brought on by a very specific group of people. A finite number of people. But the occurance was fluffed and padded untill the source was rendered undefinable...now I am to feel as though we were attacked by the world...by this obscure, ominouse and omnipresent incarnation of terror itself.

Those who attacked America are dead...those who planned the attack are somewhere wiping the sweat from their brows, exhaling deeply and thinking "wow that was a close one." While we scamper around the world chasing a word...chasing an emotion...chasing demons of terror. Lives are being spent, children burned legs blown off, women and men are losing sons and daughters over a word that we could chase for hundreds of years and never concur.

Words like Terror, Evil and Fear...should be stricken from the vocabulary of our leaders...they evoke reactionary responces which do nothing other than create chaos. When the enemy was so extremely visible...so apparent...it baffles me that the war was fought against a word, an emotion. We are to believe that we are fighting against fear itself...and that is not safe.

Sorry had to get that out...maybe I should buy a journal.

What was East Timor?

What was the cold war?

What is Haiti?

And we are doing what...I realize that the world has problems. But the problems are definate. They are not to be mixed into a giant jambalya of Axis of Evil...and global terror. Maybe I thought we had evolved beyond the shadows on the wall...I could be wrong it happens alot. The use of fear inducing, emotionally driven words does absolutely nothing to solve real and present easily definable problems...they cause people to rally around a flag without realizing the true dangers.

So are you suggesting that the cold war was not riddled with spin, propoganda and fear mongering on both sides of the battle? I must need to re-research my history. It changes so frequently that I may need a booster course.

You could say that not only are the "terrorist" using terrorism, but so are some politicians.

9/11 did not make the world any more dangerous than it already was.

Being afraid is exactly what terrorists want.. It breaks you down mentally.

Dont be afraid, there is way more danger in your bathroom than terrorists pose.

Absolutely...by invoking terror one becomes a terrorist...Much like a certain VP's famous statement regarding the increased likelyhood of terror striking if a certain incumbant is not voted back into office...

Yup. Shame on those asshats for trying to use fear to get votes... I hate people like that. It's wrong and just as bad as osama bin laden.

EDIT: Only difference is that Osama helped to fund the act, but politicians are using the stunt just the same as Osama and his cronies.

See that is my main problem...the Mujahadid acted in a reactionary manner, they reacted based on preconceived notions and an emotionally driven hatred towards something that they did not understand. People were told that the US was a symbol of everything they hate. That we were evil, that we were terrorists. Now I hear these words being used by the people in power in the US and it makes me cringe. Much like lilluput this world has been reduced to fighting each other over an egg...whether the egg is religion or political affiliation.

Once again...I know that horrid attrocities occur everyday in this world. But they are tangible. So why wage war against the intangible specter of terror. Why wage a war that we will not only never win but that will take our collective eyes off of the true problems in the world.

I will admit though that there is a problem that needs to be dealt with. There are certain groups committing bad acts throughout the world that need their asses whooped.

I like Kerry's way of talking about it. Lets get this whole mess to the back of peoples minds, but keep our government vigilant in dealing with the problem. The people of the world dont need to continue worrying about it, the government should take care of that.

The problem was NOT with the American people when we were attacked, it was with the BS that goes on in our government intelligence, with people being stingy with what they considered "Their ideas" and "THEIR INTELLIGENCE"

Selfish bastages in our intelligence community is the reason that crap happend, because people are always trying to hurt us, from the inside and the outside.

Dont forget one of our own, Timothy Mcveigh attacked us just the same and also that people are murdered every day from within our society. It's always been like this and always will.

Bush was right when he said we cant win the war on terrorism, because it isnt a political group, its asshole people everywhere and new ones are born EVERY DAY>

Precisely, lets get the people that want to get us, not this imaginary foe called terrorism. Kill the f'kers that want to kill us, but dont make it seem like there is a group called terrorism, because you cant beat that.

Terror is the way you get right-infringing laws passed.

Many people dont consider some of the laws bad untill the law comes down on them. Most law abiding people feel they have nothing to fear, because they dont do anything wrong. The fact is that sometimes mixups and misinformation happens and innocent people get caught up in the system.

Even without changing our current legal system innocent people get blamed for crimes they didnt commit and when our normal process gets bypassed there is more of a chance for this happening.

Preach on Brother Mole! The Patriot Act being a perfect example. The terrorists I am most afraid of do not come from the East. The media and politicians are the real terrorists!

Some parts of the patriot act are nessasary, in regards to things like CIA and other agencies working together, but many parts of it are open to abuse.
The thing needs to be reviewed and amended and not just accepted. It was written hastily and hardly anyone that voted it in had actually read it. Now that people have had time to read the document, it is time to talk about changes.

I'm saying East Timor, the cold war and Haiti are all examples of terrorism.

Isis, I think I love you

What I find most ironic and sad about our so-called "War on Terror" is that what we've done in Iraq, and to the Iraqi people, exactly fits the definition of terrorism.

"The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."

We're here to free you. If you don't like it, we'll kill you. I fail to see how that makes us the shining beacon of liberty and justice in the world. It simply makes us idealogues with weapons.

Lol Chip...I love ya too ...and you hit the nail on the crucifix with that one.

Jack...I know there are areas of the world where corrupt political leaders use power and fear to manipulate the masses. I realize that many are illegally incarcerated for victimless crimes. I realize that many children go without mothers and fathers, that many die of starvation due to a governments selfish need for power. I realize that people are tortured and killed based on thier beliefs or thier inconsistent ideology with the powers that be. But these acts also occur in the US. And there are ways to alter the course of humanity without the firing of bombs, without children lying on gurnies with their legs blown off and going through hours of painful skin debreeding after being torched. We as humans need to move away from animalistic scare tactics and red herring arguments of "yeah well remember the cold war."

This is not the Cold War...this is a war against something that doesn't exist in a tangible sence therefore it is a war against all of us, against you, against me, against everyone who doesn't agree. Anyone of us could be considered a terrorist with the current regime in power. We are being taught to fear our physical neighbor and our global neighbors.

I am sorry but this is not right, it is not good and it should be stopped.

I also realize that there is a point in the day where all of the laws of spelling and grammar which resided in my head moments earlier decide to take a nap...please excuse any flaws contained in this post.

Well, you have to look at some of the facts and you cant just say it's all bad.

I dont exactly agree with the execution of the war, because they seem to have been MANY oversights that people who arent military generals seemed to know about before we went in there. Why is it a civilian can have a better assesment of how things might turn out than a military general or our secretary of defence should blow my mind, but that is why I dont want the current people running the show. They have proven that they only have idealistic views about their ideas and cant see things realistically.

I dont totally disagree with Donald and some of the things he says, because I know that there are some crazy fools out there that have no factual basis for hate of us and our ways other than their own idealistic views. I do agree that there are groups of religeous fanatics out there that just dont agree with our way of life and want the infidels to perish. To bad for those f'kers, because nobody gets it exactly the way they want it, we all have to live together.

At the same time though, I think old Donald is a bit jaded with the whole world and doesnt see things very rationally anymore. Kinda like the jihadis fools that think we are evil.

Both sides have their demons to deal with and the real test of humanity is in how you deal with it and how much rational brain power you have to give to coming up with solutions to the problem.

I personally wish I could talk to some of these people that hate us to see what kind of grievence they have with me and ask them a question like "Is there some way that I wronged you and is there anything in my power to resolve this issue." If they say no, then I say kill them before they kill me. Sorry, but if you are going to hate me for something out of my control or for beliefs that I have that dont affect you, then dont expect me to be nice.

I wish people would stop being scared and face the problems as intellectual people. Just immediately attacking the other side is the biggest show of fear there is. Being brave and facing the enemy on whatever their grievance may be is the biggest test of how good you think your beliefs are. To me it is fear to attack someone rather than test your beliefs agains theirs.

Wiggs...I agree with your premise. Yes we are now in a war. If we pull out now the consequences could be horrific.

Yes the war began on a completely and totally absurd and irrational front. I say that because we were attacked on 9/11 by the mujahadid and it's subsequent parties known as Al Queda and the Taliban. We were not attacked by Iraq. We have never been attacked by Iraq. Terrorist acts continue to occur with no ties to Iraq. Our attackers are like the kid at the dodge ball game who no matter how hard he hits you with the ball he will never get picked for the team. They are yelling at us "Pick me, pick me!! Yes I hit you with the ball and knocked your teeth out!" And still we go after a benign..and we found this to be true...supposed threat.

This does not stop the fear inducing, rally round the flag tactics being utilized by our illustrious incumbant. They would rather we fear terror than realize the source of the crime commited upon us and demand action.

And the patriot act...it is not necessary...there were guidelines and laws in effect which would have potentially stopped the actions on 9/11 from occuring. Unfortunately our legal system believes that more laws are necessary instead of enforcing the ones on the books. More laws on the people means more control...bottom line.

on a side note...trolling my own thread...I perused you homepage Chip. The photogs are absolutely amazing! And it is nice to meet a fellow Virgo...sept 13th here

I'm saying the west (canada included) are guilty of and remain complicit in terrorist acts. More so than other nations who our leaders would invade or accuse of the same violence.

It's like a guy who drives an SUV blaming the guy with a new gas-electric hybrid for the high price of oil. I think my tinfoil hat protects me from becoming as indoctrinated as yourself.

Man...maybe I have completely screwed up what I was saying. I never said that we fought the "right" war. I also never said that there are not terrorist like actions being commited. Yes bad things happen. Yes leaders are in power who shouldn't be in power. All of these are fundamentally true statements. But again that is not what I was trying to put out there. You are correct in saying that there are many situations where the "west" should have taken a stand...where we should have used the power which is at our disposal to create some change. But a general and obtuse war on "terror" is not the answer. If anything it lessens our focus on the true and real forces at work who are disabling the citizens of the world from living full, productive lives.

But really if the people of the "western" world agree that a war based on the boogie man is ideal to end the suffering of the rest of "those people" then well so be it...I'll sit in my den of conspiracy and know that when I die I at least said my peice. So please don't assume I am one of the indoctrinated masses...far from it I hope. And if I am then well somebody should get a promotion because they were so covert in thier actions that it got by me unnoticed.

I dont think we should do nothing. We have what everyone else at least deserves a chance at.

Even though we are bombarded with "God" from the day we are born here in the US, we do still have a choice in the matter and at least now, christianity isnt near as extreme as the type of religeons such as the one the Taliban enforced upon Afganistan.

People like the Taliban that force people to bend so far to their ideals of morality and freedom(lack therof) are not the type of people we need running countries and weilding so much power. In this day and age we are all neighbors, wether you live across the sea or in Canada, because a Jet can get you anywhere and you can contact anyone almost anywhere in the world instantly. Back in the good ole days when people had trouble moving into someone elses country or coordinating anything over any sort of distance we didnt have these problems. Now it is something that the whole world has to take into account. Notice, I dont even have to mention WMD, because that isnt the only thing people can do as Timothy showed us, mixing diesel fuel with fertilizer makes something just as bad.

That doesn't mean we ned to just go charging in to countries and throwing them into chaos, it just means that the whole FREE world needs to put their heads together and do what is right to give people the chance to good for themsleves and to improve their lives. Enemies are made every day in a place where people have no chance to make their lives better while they see us getting fat. If they have the same chance that we were given, then they will most likely do great things and they wont despise people that have it better than them.

Sometimes it wont require going in and "freeing" people, because sometimes countries will change due to economic pressure or social pressure. Look at China for proof of that. They are slowly giving in to ideas of free market and things like that. This way they can evolve into a better society instead of being thrown into a big chaotic mess.

We can't do like we have in the past though and stir things up and then just back out when we're done with and area, because that is how people like Saddam come into power. When there is only chaos and a lack of leadership is when brutal people come in and force people to submit. Once they have started down that path there is no going back for that person as he is hated by the people he controls. If Saddam had allowed an actual vote and allowed someone else to come into power, he would've been in deep shit. In these cases it sometimes all yuou can do is help them out of the position. Also in the case of Saddam and his legacy, things were not going to get better when he died, because his sons were probably bigger asshole than he was.

I think Cheney is right about some things regarding creating a free world helping everyone out. I wont even call them Bushs ideas, because I think we all know where these ideas come from judging by Bushs total lack of knowledge about foreign matters before 9/11. What I dont agree with is the attitude, lack of tact or brainless idealism that he shows in his decisions and singlemindedness and lack of any perspective other than his own. This is going to take WAY more than a couple of peoples ideas on how things need to happen to do it right.

One major problem that we face with trying to make the world better is that MANY of the worlds governments lack the integrity to achieve these ambitious goals. We cant have secret meeting in thew whitehouse deciding the fate of the world. We cant have the leader of the UN scamming the world in sanctions scandals. We cant have France selling people like Saddam weapons systems. etc...

The problem is that many of the worlds leaders are close minded, corrupt, ignorant.

I wish there was some device called the integrimeter that could judge wether or not a person would be a good honest leader, but for now we are stuck with what we got and we just have to use our best judgment and most likely still be dominated by people that dont give more than a fraction of thought to things like this. OR we could become terrorists like some people believe and try to force our ideas of right and wrong on people by blowing them up

Thanks for the kind words, Isis Glad you enjoyed your perusing.

I wish that I had a neighbor whose spine I could not put my fist through...( Henry David Thoreau). Maybe then we would have a leader who doesn't use doublespeak, softshoeing and spinning to prey on peoples fears, prejudices and beliefs.

Where SH is concerned we put him in position...now we have no further use for him. What is done is done. I just hope that we have learned from our mistakes. I hope that the terror alerts do not magically elevate to red on election day. And I hope, if they do, that America is smart enough to get out and vote regardless of what happens. I also hope that people will see through the veil if Bush decides to suddenly pull an Osama out of his hat a few days before the election. I hope that our fear turns from numb terror and blind allegiance to action.