can we all agree " The war on terror" is just a propaganda theme and has no basis in reality?

[DB1]

Sorry no context, just a question that I think deserves a response.

[Skittles]

1. war IS terror

that's why that f***ing slogan is ASININE

[Cant trust em]

2. I dunno. Terrorism concerns me, but

it's more of the managers of the war on terror that bothers me than the "war" itself.

[Double T]

3. ABSOLUTELY!!! More like the 'war' for the military industrial complex AND.........

cheney's halliburton. America is under attack by wall street and the executive management of corporate america; these idiots are the REAL TERRORISTS!

[EFerrari]

4. Sure. n/t

[liberal N proud]

5. It is a means by which to milk the American economy into bankruptcy

And it is all at the hands of the true terrorist, The ones sitting at 1600 PA Ave

[DB1]

7. So far I agree with 5 consecutive responses, that may be a first!

I think we can.

[PDJane]

6. It's an excuse to

clear out the treasury and impose fascism.

[DB1]

16. Fascism is at the roots of this, absolutely. Circumventing the constitution is also.

[ThomWV]

8. Yes, that accurately describes it.

[mike_c]

9. yup-- the WOT is a scam, an utter scam...

...meant to divert large sums of money from the taxpayers to the MIC, and enlist taxpayers to pay for the process of reducing or eliminating their own civil rights. I makes a good marketing jingle for politicians trying to hold onto power, too.

[DB1]

11. I just heard " the jingle" on my local newsand got irritated which inspired this post.

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. It's a great way to turn the unsuspecting masses into sheep.

and has been made into an art form by the current administration.

[DB1]

13. True. But it seems to run deeper than just the Bushwacks.

[lisa58]

12. i can agree with that statement

[mikita]

14. abso-f-ing-lutely ! n/t

[Catchawave]

15. Edwards called it a "bumper sticker" slogan

and yes, propaganda to continue the war through scaring the crap outta everyone.

[DB1]

17. I never heard that, but if he could connect like Obama he would be our nominee.

Hands down.

[earth mom]

34. Edwards did connect with millions of people. The media bastards ignored him & got him kicked out.

Wake Up! :eyes:

[Catchawave]

40. Like Jay Leno asked him....

"Do you think running as a middle-aged white guy was a poor campaign strategy?"

Elizabeth has an OpEd piece in the NYT today:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5703423

[TexasObserver]

18. Yes, it is a ruse to suspend basic legal rights, to spook the population, and to gain power

Even if we accept as true every aspect of the official 9-11 story, and most of what we've been told about terror threats by the government since.

The USSR and China have had the ability to unleash untold terror on us, and never did. It's ludricous to behave as if the mere threat of loss of life in America should override the constitution and bring all this heavy handed government and jingoistic fervor.

[kestrel91316]

19. That's Warronterra(TM).

[Edweird]

20. The current 'war on terror" is a sham. It is making the problem worse, not better.

The root causes of terrorism against the US CANNOT be addressed (successfully) militarily any more than the root causes of illiteracy.
Of course, it should be apparent to anybody with two brain cells to rub together that the current administration has no intention of dealing with terrorism.

[Cant trust em]

38. When will Bush, Inc. realize that they can't kill all of the terrorists?

Like there's a finite supply and once we've eliminated all of them, we're done.

It's like trying to kill the ants in your kitchen one by one, but leaving the donut on the counter.

[Edweird]

39. The REAL terrorists are their pals and will never be held to account.

Bin Laden isn't anywhere near Iraq. Nor will he ever be.
The Iraqis, as far as I can tell, are doing exactly what I would be doing if my country was invaded.
We are creating a whole new generation of America Haters that wouldn't have otherwise existed.

Afghanistan had a chance to be just, but that ship has sailed.
We've gone off course there, as well. Again, creating more enemies.

[hootinholler]

21. As with most successful deceptions

There is a kernel of truth built upon.

That said, it is a police matter not a military one.

-Hoot

[DB1]

22. 182 views and 16 agrees.., 1 rec.. maybe DU'ers are buying into it?

I find that hard to believe, but then I find it hard to believe 59% of women still support sniper fire gutter talking Hillary.

[Juche]

23. Terrorism is real

I don't know for sure what happened on or with 9/11, but there really are extremists who want to attack us.

I disagree with the seriousness people are labeling terrorism with (terrorism isn't nearly the threat we faced in WW2 or the cold war), and the techniques we are using to fight it, but it is still an issue. Special forces, law enforcement, intel agencies, humanitarian aid and global cooperation should be able to nip it pretty effectively. Hell we got like 20 warnings from foreign countries and numerous domestic warnings before 9/11. We just ignored them all. It isn't like terror is an ICBM being fired from the USSR. A competent intelligence infrastructure should be able to deal with it.

Its sad that a handful of angry people halfway across the world can terrify an entire nation. We fought fascism 50 years ago, now we are terrified of box cutters.

[DB1]

24. Terrorism is the fear of violence. Violence will always exist. FDR said it best.

[Juche]

25. But islamic terror is real

Bin Ladin has talked about attacking the US long before 9/11, and the Iraq war has made an entire generation of muslim youth hate the US with a passion. So terror is real. I don't think it is overly serious compared to events like WW2 or the cold war but it is still an issue.

If you want to change terminology, you can use something else (Muslim resentment, guerilla attacks, etc) but it is still an issue.

[PDJane]

27. It would be a non-issue

if the "war on terror" weren't sending the American war machine to impose brutal occupations.

[Juche]

32. Nuh uh

A generation of extremists have been born out of the Iraq invasion of 2003 who we will have to deal with for the next 20 years

The Iraq invasion of 2003 was passed off as a result of 9/11 (ie, 9/11 was the excuse to invade Iraq) but was likely an attempt to gain the oil fields to deal with peak oil.

9/11 was a result of the invasion of Iraq in 1991 and troops being put in Saudi Arabia, which was an attempt to prevent Saddam from controlling the oil of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait combined.

The war in Iraq was a result of the war between Iraq & Iran and Saddam's debts to Kuwait

Iraq & Iran fought because Iran was overthrown by the Ayatollah

The Ayatollah came to power because of resentment due to US interference when we tried to prevent nationalization of the oil fields in the 50s.



As you can see, the issues of terror and hegemony are totally unrelated and have nothing to do with oil. They hate us for our freedoms. That why we changed the name from French fries to freedom fries.

Sarcasm naturally. We invaded Iraq in 2003 to conquer the oil, which was a 'result' of 9/11; 9/11 was a result of our invasion of Iraq in 1991 to conquer the oil; The first gulf war was a result of fallout from the Iran/Iraq war which went on for 8 years because the world wanted a stalemate to prevent anyone from conquering the oil, and was itself a result of our attempts to conquer the oil in Iran in the 1950s.

They hate freedom sounds nicer though. I think I'm going to start using it. And I don't have to understand politics to say it either.

[DB1]

28. The fact that factions want to gain by violence has always existed. Bush gives the ....

current lot notoriety by his elevation of creating a bogus war on terror. We can not defeat any form of extremism with bombs and military warfare.

[Juche]

30. I agree

The best way to fight extremism is with a mixture of special forces, law enforcement, competent intelligence agencies, global cooperation, carrots & sticks with other nations, humanitarian aid to improve our reputation & energy independence. Blunt wars with nations that have nothing to do with terror makes things far worse.

Extremism/Terrorism is nowhere near the threat that we faced from the USSR, Japan or Germany. But it is still a threat. Bush/Cheney have abused (or encouraged if you believe John Dean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jA0OVtvqjk) the threat of terrorism to manipulate the public. But it is still an issue. Alot of extremists are highly educated in science, medicine or engineering and they are very dedicated. If they can find an effective way to attack they will.

[DB1]

31. Now, if we could only have a President who agrees we might get somewhere.

[EFerrari]

29. If bin Laden tried for the rest of his life

he could never top Bush for murder, torture and destruction.

Terrorism may well be an issue but we have it exactly backward.

[Greyhound]

36. Terrorism is real, but you cannot fight a "war" against a tactic.

This is, and has always been, a law enforcement issue. The WOT is nothing but propaganda to mask the coup.

[Snarkoleptic]

26. Classic way to promote fear and vilify anything that's anti-RW.

[earth mom]

33. 911 was LIHOP or MIHOP. The War on Terror is B.S. Ask yourself-Who are the REAL terrorists? nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. Terrorism isn't a country or an ideology: it's a TACTIC

and since the perpetrators are small groups, users of terrorist tactics are best fought through police work.

[Political Heretic]

37. You can't have a "war" on an idea.

[leftofthedial]

41. it's just a marketing campaign

a brand name for unfettered theft by the military, weapons and "security" complex.