War on terrorism

The phrase war on terrorism is used to justify a wide variety of actions in many countries. In Israel it is used to justify bombing apartment buildings in Gaza. In Russia it has been used to justify oppressive measures in Chechnya. In Canada it has been used to justify oppressive search measures contrary to privacy laws. In the United States it specifically refers to the perpetual global interventionism.

"During the three years in which the 'war on terror' has been waged, high-profile challenges to its assumptions have been rare. Much of the currently perceived threat from international terrorism "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians. It is a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services, and the international media." argues a new documentary series produced by Adam Curtis for BBC, The Power of Nightmares." [1]

Winning the war on terrorism

Reid 2007: war is "lost" in Iraq

On April 20, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said "the war in Iraq is 'lost,' triggering an angry backlash by Republicans, who said the top Democrat had turned his back on the troops. ... Reid said he told President Bush on Wednesday he thought the war could not be won through military force, although he said the U.S. could still pursue political, economic and diplomatic means to bring peace to Iraq."

Bush 2004: "fight against terrorism will not end"

On August 30, 2004, in an exclusive interview with 'Today' show host Matt Lauer, when asked whether the U.S. could win the war on terror, President George W. Bush said I don’t think you can win it.

The aftermath of September 11, 2001

This perpetual war has been promulgated by U.S. President George W. Bush as a reaction to the events of September 11, 2001, which incorporates or replaces the long-standing permanent failure of the "war on drugs" which, likewise, has many meanings in different countries.

"The Pentagon has assigned the task of tracking down and eliminating Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and other high-profile targets to Army Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin who sees the war on terrorism as a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan." [2]

The phrase/image War on terror is frequently used by President Bush, leading some to observe that it is impossible to carry out what is defined as "war" against an abstract noun. When various members of Monty Python began to make fun of this term and point out its implications in pieces published in prominent UK newspapers, the term disappeared from official coverage. Also, seemingly, it has the unfortunate resonance of sounding like a "war on Terra", that is, on Earth itself. In sympathy with this, some ecotage promoters began to call themselves terrists, in part to make fun of Bush's Texas accent, in which this term is indistinguishable from "terrorist".

"The word terror activates your fear. The war on terror is not about stopping you from being afraid, it's about making you afraid."—George Lakoff [3]

This does not, however, modify the fundamental insensibility of it, nor serve to hold allies together. While Canada and Germany were full participants in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, for instance, they were steadfast opponents of invading Iraq - Canadian naval forces even refused to cooperate with US forces when the former, stationed in the Gulf, were asked to interdict Iraqi traffic during the war. Canada did not join "The Coalition," whatever that is, nor did it interpret the war on terrorism as having anything to do with an attack on Iraq - nor for that matter Syria or Iran.

In another view, "Reviewing the background to US sponsored Argentinian and Israeli terrorism reveals how the fictional 'war on terror' is just another pretext for the pillage of Latin America by the US government and its favoured multinational corporations."

Consistent with the duplicitous nature of the Junior Bush Regime, a United Nations commissioned study, the Arab Human Development Report 2003 finds that the "war on terrorism" has actually pushed radical political groups to seek change by violence. [4] The "war on terrorism" is actually creating terrorism, not reducing it.

"With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the U.S. lost the pretext of 'communism' for its intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean - other than Cuba - and it quickly assumed the 'war on drugs' as an excuse for military presence. And after 9/11, the pretext for intervention became the 'war on terrorism'," notes long-time independent researcher and Latin America expert GeorgeAnn Potter, a professor at the Catholic University of Bolivia. [5]

Observations

"The unhappy truth is that the net result of the war on terror, so far at least, has been more war and more terror", says Gareth Evans, former Australian foreign minister and head of the International Crisis Group. [6]

Charley Reese observed on January 19, 2004, that

• All the time the Irish terrorists were bombing and shooting the British, Great Britain never felt the necessity of declaring a worldwide war on terrorism. It went after the Irish terrorists.
• When bombs were going off in Paris some years ago, the French didn't say everyone must fight terrorism. They went after the guys who were planting the bombs.

War on Terrorism and Free Trade

OAKLAND, CA - August 26, 2003 - What do the "war on terrorism" and "free trade" have in common? According to a new report by Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, they are the two formidable pillars of U.S. foreign policy, custom-fit to help privatize the world's resources for its corporations and a matter of growing concern with the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial in Cancun, Mexico.[7],[8]

Also see Food First article The War On Terrorism, Labor And Democratic Rights published June 29, 2002.

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch articles

• Al Qaeda
• Americans for Victory Over Terrorism
• Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002
• bioterrorism
• Bush administration homeland security
• Bush doctrine
• civil liberties
• civil war in Iraq
• Clinton administration anti-terrorism law
• Congressional action on domestic spying
• counterterrorism
• Department of Homeland Security
• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
• Fortress America
• Freedom of Information Act
• Funding terrorism
• Gilmore Commission
• global detention system
• global struggle against violent extremism
• Global War on Terror
• globalization
• HAMAS
• Hezbollah
• Homeland defense
• Homeland security
• Illegal immigration
• Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection
• Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the prime training ground for foreign terrorists
• Iraqi insurgency
• Islamofascist (Islamofascism)
• Jundullah
• Khalid Sheik Mohammad
• liquid bomb plot August 2006
• Loose Cannon Pentagon
• Military-industrial complex
• MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
• Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange Program
• National Counterproliferation Center
• National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism
• National Security State
• National Threat Assessment
• Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism
• Pan-Sahel Initiative
• Patriot Act I
• Patriot Act I headlines
• Patriot Act II
• Patriot Act abuses
• Patriot Act industry
• Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001
• Pax Americana
• private security consultants
• privatization
• Proactive Preemptive Operations Group
• Public Report on the Vice President's Task Force on Combatting Terrorism
• REAL ID Act of 2005
• rebranding the war on terror
• rendition
• Report of the National Commission on Terrorism
• state sponsor of terrorism
• stay the course
• suspicious transactions
• Taliban
• Terrorism as propaganda
• Terrorism Information Awareness
• Terrorist
• Terrorist cult
• Terrorist Screening Center
• Terrorist Threat Integration Center
• Total Information Awareness
• Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Initiative
• United States as a rogue nation
• United States Special Operations Command
• Vets for Freedom
• violence in the Middle East
• watchlist
• weapons of mass deception
• weapons of mass destruction
• weapons of mass destruction investigation
• War on Terror detainee legislation

Case studies

• Global War on Terror
• Terrorism to end terrorism
• The Power of Nightmares
• Why do they hate us?

U.S. Government-related articles

• The War on Terrorism, CIA, Director of Central Intelligence Porter Goss's online page. Includes numerous CIA articles and links.
• America Responds, FirstGov.gov, The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal.
• War on Terrorism, Federal Bureau of Investigation/FBI online page.
• Defend America, U.S. Department of Defense News About the War on Terrorism.
• "What is the War on Terrorism?", answered by White House (.gov) FAQ
• "National Security", White House online page from President George W. Bush.
• Allison R. Hayward, Daniel Kelly, and Michael F. Williams, The War on Terrorism and the Commander in Chief Clause: Delegation of the President's Command Authority, Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. National Security White Papers, 2002.
• The Rule of Law: War on Terrorism, U.S. Department of State International Information Programs.
• Global War on Terrorism, USAF Counterproliferation Center, U.S. Department of the Air Force.
• War on Terrorism: U.S. Government Information and Resources, About.com.

Background information

An internet search specific to "war on terrorism" will result in an endless listing of sources, opinions, and articles, some of which are listed below.

• War on Terrorism in the Wikipedia.
• Background and Threat Assessments catalogued at the Federation of American Scientists, Intelligence Resource Program.
• Karel Glastra van Loon and Jan Marijnissen, "The Doctrine of Humanitarian War," spectrezine.org, undated: "Although the 'fight against evil' has found a new theatre in Iraq, it does not seem likely that the situation in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo or Afghanistan will substantially improve. The negative consequences of these 'rightful wars' threaten to become bigger than the positive effects that provided the pretext for action in the first place. ... They tend to form a fruitful base for extremism and terrorism. In the meanwhile the war industry may become the only economic sector that can keep showing positive growth figures."
• "Charting the 'War on Terrorism'," Amnesty Now: "From Australia to Zimbabwe, using new laws and old-fashioned brute force, governments are sacrificing human rights on the altar of antiterrorism."
• Special Coverage: "War on Terrorism," Findlaw.com. Includes up-to-date news articles and other media links.
• "America's War Against Terrorism," University of Michigan Documents Center.
• War Against Terror, CNN.com Specials.
• America's War on Terrorism, Federation of American Scientists. Includes links and news articles.
• War on Terrorism, NewsMax.com; includes "World's Most Wanted" State Sponsors of Terrorism.
• Alternative Resources on the U.S. "War on Terrorism", "Alternative Resources on the U.S. "War Against Terrorism", International Responsibilities Task Force of the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table.
• Jane's Analysis: "War on Terrorism," Janes.com.
• "War on Terrorism," GuerillaNewsNetwork
• Terrorism Directory at SecurityLinks.org
• "War on Terrorism," PollingReport.com by Polling Report, Inc..
• "The New War, The War on Terrorism: The First War of the 21st Century," StrategyPage.com.
• Global SpecOps, Operation Enduring Freedom Terrorism Portal with links to numerous articles.
• "The War on Terror," American Enterprise Institute's up-to-date articles.
• "War on Terrorism," TerrorismFiles.org; up-to-date articles.
• "Al-Qaeda" in the Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security, Thomson Gale, 2006.

External articles

2001

• "How Should the United States Respond to Terrorism?" (video and transcript), Cato Institute, November 27, 2000. Featuring Anthony H. Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies; John Parachini, Monterey Institute of International Studies; Bruce Hoffman, RAND Corporation; Ivan Eland, Cato Institute.
• Letter to President George Walker Bush from The Project for the New American Century, September 20, 2001.
• Narco News 2001: "War on Terrorism: a Recipe for Disaster. Washington and the U.S. Press Declare War (Again) without Defining the Enemy," Narco.News.com, September 28, 2001.
• John Pilger, "There is no war on terrorism. If there was, the SAS would be storming the beaches of Florida," New Statesman (London), October 29, 2001.

2002

• Jim Lobe and Lora Lumpe, "An Enron War On Terrorism," Common Dreams, February 12, 2002.
• Ivan Eland, "Poking the hornets' nest is ill-advised", USA Today, May 2, 2002. Re "provoking terrorist groups."
• Pratrap Chatterjee, "The War on Terrorism's Gravy Train. Cheney's Former Company Wins Afghanistan War Contracts," CorpWatch.org, May 2, 2002.
• Michel Chossudovsky, Hidden Agenda behind the "War on Terrorism": US Bombing of Afghanistan restores Trade in Narcotics, Centre for Research on Globalisation, May 20, 2002.

2003

• "Endgame", Buzzflash Editorial, March 17, 2003. "It's the endgame of a mad, politically calculated war."
• War on Terrorism, The Atlantic Monthly articles with links. Robert Kaplan, Supremacy by Stealth, July/August 2003.
• Terrorism Research
• Drug Policy News: War on Terrorism Increasingly Used in War on Drugs, Drug Policy Alliance, July 22, 2003.
• David Stout, "Bush, Speaking to Veterans, Says Iraq May Not Be Last Strike" The New York Times, August 26, 2003. "President Bush defended his policy on Iraq today, declaring that the United States had struck a blow against terrorism in overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. And Mr. Bush said the United States might carry out other pre-emptive strikes."
• Drug Policy News: Using Terrorism Fears to Boost the Drug War, Drug Policy Alliance, August 27, 2003.
• John R. Bradley, "US troops quit Saudi Arabia", news.telegraph.co.uk, August 28, 2003. "America no longer needs Saudi Arabia militarily and oil from Iraq and the Caspian Sea will eventually reduce Saudi influence in Opec. Some in the Bush administration want more co-operation from the House of Saud in the war on terrorism.... The FBI and the US Internal Revenue Service are going to Saudi Arabia to start a joint US-Saudi effort to trace terrorist financing there."
• Suzanne Goldenberg and Jamie Wilson, "Iraq set to swallow up countless billions as costs soar, US admits", The Guardian , August 28, 2003.
• "Feds Use Terror Law in Unrelated Cases", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 28, 2003.
• Lutz Kleveman, "The 'war on terror' is being used as an excuse to further US energy interests in the Caspian", The Guardian, October 20, 2003.
• Brian Williams, "Bush Says Turkey New Front in 'War on Terror'", Reuters, November 21, 2003.
• "It's the Incompetence, Stupid!", Buzzflash editorial, December 2, 2003.
• Robyn E. Blumner, "From Tommy R. Franks, a doomsday scenario", St. Petersberg Times, December 7, 2003.
• Laura Vilim, "Professors publish report on terrorism", The Observer (Notre Dame), December 10, 2003.
• John Barry and Evan Thomas, "Dissent in the Bunker. Newt Gingrich, a quiet Rumsfeld confidant, thinks the U.S. went 'off a cliff' in Iraq", Newsweek, December 15, 2003.

2005

• David E. Kaplan, "Hearts, Minds, and Dollars: In an Unseen Front in the War on Terrorism, America is Spending Millions...To Change the Very Face of Islam", U.S. News, April 25, 2005.
• William Fisher and Jim Lobe, "What to believe in the 'war on terror'?" Asia Times, December 21, 2005.

2006

• Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke "How to Lose the War on Terror. PART 1: Talking with the 'terrorists'," Asia Times, March 31, 2006.
• Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke, "How to Lose the War on Terror. PART 2: Handing victory to the extremists," Asia Times, April 1, 2006.
• Robert Parry, "The Abyss Beckons," consortiumnews.com, July 18, 2006.
• Robert Parry, "A New War Frenzy," consortiumnews.com, July 20, 2006.
• Mr Populist, "GOP Big Lie For 2006 Elections: 'We're Tough on Terror'," Daily Kos, August 26, 2006.
• Karen DeYoung, "Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Hurting U.S. Terror Fight," Washington Post, September 24, 2006.
• Chris Floyd, "Behind Bush's Nuclear Gift to Terrorism," Empire Burlesque, November 4, 2006.

2007

• Lara Jakes Jordan, "Audit: Anti-Terror Case Data Flawed," Associated Press (truthout), February 21, 2007.
• Mark Mazzetti and David Rohde, "Al Qaeda Chiefs Are Seen to Regain Power," New York Times, February 19, 2007.
• Seymour M. Hersh, "The Redirection. Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?" The New Yorker, February 25, 2007 (posted), March 5, 2007 (issue).
• Nico Pitney, "Hersh: U.S. Funds Being Secretly Funneled To Violent Al Qaeda-Linked Groups," Think Progress, February 25, 2007.
• John Amato, "Pentagon Worried It Can't Meet a Third Threat," Crooks and Liars, February 26, 2007. Gen. Peter Pace on CNN.
• Gen. JC Christian, "The Bush Doctrine" (Chart), PatriotBoy Blogspot, February 26, 2007.
• Olivia Ward, British drop use of 'war on terror' - Term only inflates expectations of small group of extremists, U.K.'s international development secretary says in N.Y. speech, Toronto Star, April 17, 2007.
• Nora Ephron, "How to Foil a Terrorist Plot in Seven Simple Steps", The Huffington Post, June 5, 2007.
• Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer, "Exclusive: Terror Commander: New Attack Will Dwarf Failed Bomb Plot," The Blotter Blog/ABC News, July 14, 2007.
• Satyam Khanna, "Lynne Cheney: Terrorist Attacks Worldwide Don’t Affect ‘American Interests’," Think Progress, October 11, 2007. re Lynne Cheney