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How To Win The War On Terror

by Mark Gilbride

On December 13, 2003 a weapon of mass destruction was found in Iraq. No scuds, chemical or biological weapon caches were found. In fact, only one weapon was discovered, his name: Sadaam Hussein. It is not his past actions that make him such a threat, but rather the ideology he represents. The concept of dictatorship has ruined the middle east with an intentional, destructive precision. Dictatorships across the middle east have directly promoted terrorism through vile, yet efficient schemes. For this reason innocent Americans have died and will continue to die, and for this reason the middle east must be reformed. In order to comprehend the dire need of regional reformation, it is first needed to understand the causes of terrorism. A terrorist is conditioned from birth by his government to follow a course that will lead to, and possibly end with his profession. There is only one reason dictatorships promote terrorism: sustenance. Through a carefully regimented environment, dictators are able to create those who serve their needs--- extremists. A terrorist will be born into an impoverished family and will die very often in the same condition. The source of this economic depravity belongs to the government. A dictator will not want his people to experience luxury because happiness encourages the pursuit of more happiness, which can only be attained through liberties. Liberties cannot be given because they cannot be taken away and will always lead to the desire of more freedoms. Wealth also encourages education, which discourages ignorance. The wealthy might even challenge the upper echelon of government. The government will impoverish its own people through any means. Upon reaching the age of education, a terrorist will be brought into a school very different from those found in the western world. They will be taught mathematics and foreign languages, but they will not be taught history. In the latter course, the past is a mere interpretation of how the government wants it to be believed. By their teachings, the crusades in fact, have never ended. The west has always been at war with the Arab world, it has always been a crusade against Islam. Just as a corrupted education system is used to create an illusion, so too is the state-run media applied to insure that after education, the people remain living in a fictitious world. The Israel-Palestine conflict is a propaganda machine for Middle Eastern dictatorships. It is a profitable conflict as it ‘proves' their perspective on historic events to be true and that the crusades are very alive in the present-day. The conflict is in fact, needed by dictatorships to redirect the anger of its own people away from internal problems. The Israel-Palestine issue as well as Operation Iraqi Freedom, combine to allow dictatorships to preach that the West is bent on crusade. Through proper means, the fear and hatred of Western policies can be exploited in such a way as to create an environment where everything west is considered evil, including western philosophies, particularly democracy. Many of those who enter this cycle do not become terrorists in a traditional sense. Instead, they are the backbone of an important wing of logistical terrorism. They are the sympathizers and radical sheiks. Sympathizers tend to provide material support, particularly in the monetary aid that will finance recruitment, training, weapons, and campaigns. The sheiks are equally, if not more important. Religious extremists are well-known to preach hatred from the pulpit, and it is this amalgamation of hate and religion that infuses the terrorist mind with a sense of morality in their actions. There is hope. It lay in the youth who have been exposed to something other than xenophobic zeal and in those with courage, who will vote in Iraq's elections at the end of January. The unemployed and hidebound-weary populace of nations such as Iran and occupied Lebanon, may not remain idle for long. Yet, the first shot is always the most difficult one, especially in the hands of the minority. The masses need a catalyst, for as Orwell described, "Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious". There are no assured approaches to accomplishing any achieved goal, but the most realistic must involve the United States. U.S. forces are over-stretched in Iraq, as are their finances. There will be no march on Tehran, Damascus, or Mecca. The most pragmatic approach would involve the CIA and elite special forces. There are few options, but one would involve a risky CIA-backed coup. The other, an assassination campaign targeted at killing high-ranking officials around leaders, in the hope of forcing fleeting reforms. Neither approach would do America well in terms of public relations and the latter would defy an executive order made by Carter against assassination campaigns. Should either scenario occur, it is of utmost importance that the movement be monitored to ensure that the right people and the right ideas are represented in the new government. The infrastructure must not serve a governmental purpose, but rather be subject to reality, as John stated, "The truth shall set you free". Provided that the institutions created by dictators remain, terrorism will last equally as long. Killing one man will not end the war on terror, for as he dies myriads more will be subjected to terrorist training camps in their homes, in their schools, and in their mosques. The status quo has been ignored for far too long. To ensure that our future generations are safe at work, on vacation, or on planes, we must target the root causes. The war that is fought today is a perpetual one. It has been fought before and it will be fought again, always in different locations, and always involving different names. Yet they are fundamentally similar, for dictatorships thrive in times of instability and there is no shortage of greed or the ruthlessness through which it is best exemplified.