The American Public: Terrorism's Best Friend
After reading the latest news on Congress's latest attempt to withdraw US troops from Iraq, I wondered what happened to America to change its opinion so flippantly. Just a few years ago, after 9/11 and in the wake of President Bush's "war on terrorism", the American public went into a patriotic frenzy and threw their support in defeating terrorists. Now, only 6 short years later, the American public has become tired of war and wants to pull out. Why? Because America has become the equivalent of an immature, spoiled brat.
American society has developed a "want it now" attitude towards life. Waiting is out of the question and everyone is willing to fork over dollars to keep time out of the equation. Want to lose weight? Forget traditional exercise and diet that will take you weeks to shed pounds, Americans want instant weight loss through fad diets, liposuction, and plastic surgery. Hungry? No one slaves away over a stove for ahome cooked meal anymore in a world full of fast food restaurants, microwave dinners, and take-out. Even the Internet has gone through an upgrade, from 56k to broadband. Waiting a few seconds for a Youtube video or a couple of minutes to download large files seems like an eternity for today's generation. Wasn't it just a few years ago that connecting to the Internet took more time than boiling an egg?
America wanted the Iraq war to be quick and painless, with minimum loss of life and resources. The initial invasion of Iraq did exactly that, ending in a few weeks with little bloodshed. The real work began, however, after the invasion as Iraqi insurgents and al-Qaeda began attacking US led forces and Iraq government through direct assaults and acts of terrorism. As the body count began to mount, America lost their nerve with more and more soldiers dying in Iraq and began pushing for withdrawal from Iraq. The American public wants the war over. Now.
Withdrawal from Iraq at this time, in the face of increasing attacks and loss of life, would be the biggest mistake that America could commit. By removing soldiers from the battlefield, we are sending a clear message out to terrorists and enemies alike: In order to defeat the most powerful armed force in the world requires attacking public opinion at home, not the soldiers on the battlefront. Spill enough blood, and the American public will start getting cold feet. Kill enough soldiers and civilians and the American public will start clamoring for withdrawal.
This is exactly why governments and police forces tend not to negotiate in hostage situations. If criminals realized that authorities are willing to negotiate with them if they have hostages, there would be a rise of people being held hostage. The same will happen in any armed conflict that America participates in. All the enemy will have to do to win a battle is inflict enough damage to American armed forces to bring public support down. The American public will take care of the rest.
Just imagine what our future will look like in a world where America is not feared or respected. Terrorist attacks will increase and the United States will lose all political and military clout it ever had before. It will ultimately cause more instability in the volatile Middle East and undermine US relations with both friends and foes. Suicide bombers, car bombs, and the American public have become the new tools of terrorists today.
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2 Comments
Post a CommentPerhaps the US citizens woke up to reality that the terrorists are our own government. Iraq switching to Euro. Hurt US economy in World Trade. US largest importer of oil; little of value to export. Best way to turn US citizens into global terrorists. Be sure to leave a "slightly charred passport" amid the rubble to add credibilty to your mass deceptions. A good administration, of course, would have been enacting legislation to ensure the US's dependency upon lessened; but those involved with profits from oil and war (such as Kellogg, Root & Brown, Halliburton, Neil Bush)do not think that way.
The only thing I would hasten to add is that if both sides of the political aisle were behind the effort, no number of IED's would be able to diminish our resolve. Our national resolve is under attack from political partisans - partisans for whom it is more important to oppose the present administration and regain their political primacy than it is to stand behind their nation's foreign policy. These partisans risk all our futures in their effort to harm Bush and Republicans in order that they may regain the White House and maintain Congressional majorities. Makes me wanna puke!