‘War on Terror’ - a Failure 

[Courtesy http://www.gracejunction.com/]

 

Like every other civilised person I was horrified by the senseless carnage that occured in Mumbai this week. The slaughter of innocent people can never be justified irrespective of who commits these hideous crimes.One fact is very clear however, the so called “War On Terrorism” can never be won! That may sound like I am prepared to hoist a white flag in our efforts to eliminate this scourge. Far from it, the battle has got to continue but I humbly suggest that the way this “War” is being waged only encourages would be terrorists to join the fight against who they see as their oppressors.

This opinion is based on the indisputable fact that while terrorism has existed since time immemorial, it has increased dramatically since George W Bush proclaimed his war on it post 9/11. Think of Bali, London, Madrid, Istanbul and countless others before the latest outrage in Mumbai. How many other failed attempts has there been which we never get to hear about?Add to these the hundreds of attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan the majority of which were carried out by the same terrorists that the US invaded both countries with a mission to eliminate them.When war is waged it cannot be expected to be a one sided conflict. It has to be fought against an enemy which will be guaranteed to fight back with whatever means they may possess. If that has to include suicide bombings and terrorist acts so be it because it’s all they have to fight back with. I would even suggest that had Australia been invaded 20 years ago instead of 200, the native aborigines would have been very likely to respond with the very same methods.

You may wonder why people are willing to sacrifice their lives in a war which they have no hope of winning militarily. The answer may well lie in their belief that a grave injustice was perpertrated upon them. Make no mistake about it, while most people can learn to live with poverty, lack of opportunities and even degredation, a deep sense of injustice can be a far more powerful motivation.Unfortunately, the world is still full of injusticies whether we look at Palestine, Tibet, Chechnya, Kashmir or dozens of others including the Australian aborigines.So where does the solution lie? How can the scourge of terrorism be eliminated? I certainly don’t claim to have an answer but what is absolutely clear is that “The War On Terror” is definately not it.Maybe, just maybe, our leaders can put aside their political prejudices and try looking outside the box. Instead of a negative “War On Terror” they can attempt to instigate a “War On Injustice”. My sixth sense tells me that this could be a war which will even gain the support of potential terrorists.

refer :  http://www.gracejunction.com/blog/war-on-terror-a-failure/