Monday, December 26, 2005

 

"Winning" the War on Terror

Following the crimes of September 11, 2001, in which buildings were destroyed or damaged and nearly 3000 persons murdered, our President decreed that America was at war with the terrorists. Ever since then, he and his administration have talked about the war on terror and that we must be firm and resolute if we are to win this war.

Something very obvious needs to be said. It is so obvious that I hesitated to write it for a long time. The terrorists are criminals. The "war" on terror is a "war" on crime. Making war on terrorists is like making war on bank robbers. Such a war can not be won. There will always be new criminals, new bank robbers, and new terrorists.

Instead of "waging war on terror" the President should have said "international police action to hunt down, capture, and prosecute the criminal terrorists." The President has promised to protect us from future acts of terror. This is like promising the Bank of America that the government will protect it from future bank robberies. There is no certain way to prevent a crime from occurring. No matter who is President, this country can never be safe from any possible terrorist attack. Just as banks use architecture, armed guards, and certain procedures to make bank robbery as difficult as possible, governments can do similar things to make terrorist attacks difficult to carry out. But neither banks nor the rest of us can ever be perfectly secure and safe from criminal attacks. Military action and ignoring the Bill of Rights won't make us any safer.
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?