Terrorism (Are you scared yet?)
Politicians and their owners use terrorism to distract us from other important issues. Americans have significantly changed our way of life, living in fear of terrorism. Remember the times before 9/11/2001? You didn’t have to pass through metal detectors to enter public buildings. You didn’t have to arrive at the airport an hour earlier than usual to ensure you would have time to pass through the TSA security checkpoint. TSA should be called TST (Transportation Security Theater). It’s real purpose is to keep the public living in fear and hating the terrorists who are trying to kill us — except the current terrorist risk is coming from white American males who have been weaponized by hateful rhetoric; much of it coming from Trump as he trolls us with his divisive racist tweets. Earlier in this series, I pointed out the US has the largest military and the most guns of any country in the world. Given those two factors, we must be the safest country on earth. Are we? We are in the middle of a “War on Terrorism!” We must be winning the war because the number of American civilians who died worldwide in terrorist attacks last year was eight. For comparison, lightning killed 29 people. If it’s not terrorists, what are the causes of deaths in the USA?
Cause
# of deaths
All causes
2,500,000
Diseases and illnesses (Medical issues)
1,800,000
Accidents
125,000
Suicide
38,000
homicide
22,000
All others
478,000
According to a CNN report, “Using numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; we found that from 2001 to 2013, 406,496 people died by firearms on U.S. soil.” Remember how many citizens terrorists killed last year? Eight! How much money do we spend on the War on Terror compared to what we spend on gun control? Since the War on Terror is the only war we are fighting right now, then let us assume that the US military budget is the number — $610 billion. We spend $610 billion to protect ourselves from terrorists and others who would do us harm and it worked — remember — only eight victims last year — except we allow our own citizens with guns to kill about 60,000 of us (murders and suicides) and we will not allow the National Institutes of Health or the CDC to do any research on the issue of gun violence in America. That’s right! Congress passed the Dickey amendment and has inserted language into subsequent spending bills prohibiting such research. Whom are they protecting?
America has established a worldwide reputation for defending freedom and human rights, but domestically that reputation is eroding. Many of our fine young people have given their lives or been seriously wounded in our military defense forces activities. However, the people making the sacrifices today are coming from a smaller and smaller demographic group — mostly people who have very limited options for other careers. We call it a ‘volunteer’ military, but most people with other realistic options are not volunteering. For the most part, the children of people with power or money are not going into the military. Once again, poverty plays a role. People living in poverty and unable to get a job, ‘volunteer’ to serve in the military. It is not really volunteering if the only other option is poverty. At the same time, the battles we ask our military personnel to fight are more for political and economic reasons than military defense. Wars are good for the military industrial complex. I am concerned that America’s military has evolved from the Department of Defense to the Department of Offense.
Bomb ISIS
Bomb ISIS — Great idea — Right? How has it worked so far? Bombing cities where there might be ISIS forces may kill some ISIS fighters, but it also kills innocent civilians — creating more angry terrorists.
ISIS is not a place. In fact, ISIS is not even in one place. ISIS is an idea. So how do you bomb an idea? The only way to attack an idea is with a better idea. So, what is the better idea? The United States is based upon it. We have laws and people who enforce those laws. ISIS is not a military problem, it’s a criminal one. Acts of terror are against the law — not just US law, but international law. Let’s use these outrageous criminal acts (the bombings in Europe and the Middle East) to instigate a truly international police force tasked with solving the crimes, capturing and punishing the perpetrators, not just for this incidence, but for all crimes.
Just because we have a huge war machine does not mean we have to use it for every situation. A military attack in response to a criminal act is seen as an act of aggression, not defense. There is an old saying that points out, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Well, we have much more than just a hammer, so we have to stop treating every attack like a nail.
Now let’s go back to how to fight an idea. One of the things that nurtures an idea like ISIS is the seemingly indiscriminate bombing and occupying of Muslim countries. This statement is not speculation. It’s a fact! In spite of that, during the presidential debates then candidate Trump called for the US to respond with, “A bombing campaign that’s not afraid to kill innocent civilians.” Isn’t that what terrorists do? We have to be better than the terrorists are if we want to win the battle of ideas.
We have the United Nations, NATO, and Interpol as a start. Let’s improve and empower them to deal with these criminals.
We have the United Nations, NATO, and Interpol as a start. Let’s improve and empower them to deal with these criminals.
This is an excerpt from my book on Poverty — part 30
(Written but not published. If you want a MS Word free copy, let me know.)
