Saddam had his head handed to him, his brother had his literally handed to him. Afghanistan is ours, for now. If we can keep it.
There is no damn “war.”
“But, Ken, there are still terrorists out there!”
There will always be terrorists and terrorism.
“Al Qaeda” is still out there. Even if we could exterminate them all… some group will take their place. “Will?” There already are such groups and individuals adding to the carnage. The difference between Joe who crashed his plane into the IRS and 9/11 is size and how convenient the terrorists are, or the terrorist is. Joe’s not all that convenient for those who would love to have you hate Muslims.
You cannot make war on an idea. Ideas may change. Ideas may adapt. But ideas will always be out there. If we really were at war with “terrorism” we would be deep in Pakistan: chasing them wherever they go and conquering every country they enter. Essentially we would have to become world conquerors.
Good luck with that.
When arguing or discussing the issue, don’t fall into their sleazy talking point trap. It is an “occupation,” at best.
We are not at “war.” We are occupiers. We are conquerors; even if we leave… once Iraq or Afghanistan’s path suits our idea of “the right direction.” Who the hell are we to decide what path another country takes, unless we be conquerors and occupiers? Occupiers always decide what paths the nations they conquer take. Doesn’t matter if it’s by the populace voting; if the voting is a sham… or not. Voting is something they should decide on themselves without it being forced upon them, because that’s what a real nation does. An occupied nation gets that decided for them.
Maybe it was all with the best of intentions, though the cynic in me says: when it comes to our leaders, mostly… not. Or maybe the object is to claim the country is in a perpetual state of war. Leaders can get away with stripping away a lot of freedom when we claim we are at war. Founding documents are convenient toilet paper during war time, and flushing them far too easy.
Maybe this is all with the best of intentions and noble. I doubt it… but that’s not the argument here. The argument is, whatever you want to call it, stop claiming it’s “war.”
That would be a lie.
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Inspection is a column that has been written by Ken Carman for over 30 years. Inspection is dedicated to looking at odd angles, under all the rocks and into the unseen cracks and crevasses that constitute the issues and philosophical constructs of our day: places few think, or even dare, to venture.
Copyright 2010
Ken Carman and Cartenual Productions
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