Sunday, October 29, 2006

The War on Terror
Every time I hear about how the war of terror must be won by attacking the terrorist enemy overseas, so that “we” will remain safe “at home”, I wonder to myself, who will stand up and say the obvious. The root causes of terrorism include poverty, illiteracy, hopelessness, violence, bigotry, hatred, lack of mutual respect, and lack of a stable future for one’s own life and family. At least as much time, effort, and funding needs to be made to counter these causes of terrorism, than what is committed and being spent on bombing and killing people around the world hoping to destroy Al Qaida. Yet bombing and killing the enemy as described by the current administration, is causing soldiers from these very same neighborhoods ”at home” to be shot at, and bombed, and killed every day. The same plan in Iraq that is supposed to keep us safe, are putting bullets and shrapnel in the bodies of our men and women sent “over there”. Let us work to end poverty, illiteracy, hopelessness, violence, bigotry, and hatred. Let us rebuild mutual respect, and create the foundation of a stable future for each person’s own life and family. It is shortsighted to just go killing people, no matter how evil they may be, without building the rest of the tools and methods to eliminate terrorism. People in not only war-torn countries, but in places all over the world, have allegiances to their tribe, their local warlord, their imam or other local religious leader, but they still retain a fundamental loyalty and obligation to their family. If an educated mother prohibits her son to go off and kill themselves or others, how many suicide bombers will be redirected to a more constructive end ?

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