One Radical Opinion

by "Radical" Russ Belville
Wednesday, September 8, 2004

"Radical" Russ Belville was born on the first day of the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War in the town of Nampa in the "red" state of Idaho, where any opinion to the left of Reagan gets you labeled as "radical". He currently resides in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon (a.k.a. "Little Beirut") where he works in Information Technology. In his spare time, he enjoys writing about current events, playing the six-string bass guitar, and volunteering for liberal political causes. You can contact him via e-mail at letters 'at' radicalruss.net.

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One theme I hear reiterated at the Republican convention is the need to be on the offensive against terror. I couldn't agree more. Where we disagree is about what it means to be on the offense.

There's a whole lot of macho swagger and Rambo mentality about this War of Terror. "They attacked us on 9/11 and we'll have our revenge!" These ideologues think somehow that we can win the War on Terror like we won World War II. Shoot enough people, bomb enough towns, soon enough, you've won.

It was easy enough to understand your enemy in World War II. He was a member of the Nazi army, sworn to fight on behalf of the Nazi government, a government dedicated to conquest and genocide. The Nazi government was headed by Adolf Hitler and based in Berlin, Germany. There was a clear opponent to fight and a clear location to invade.

The problem in this modern war is that there is no Terrorslavia. We are not fighting an opposing army. There is no Terror City. There is no Terror Government. Our enemy is not an army or even a people, it is a mindset. Guns and tanks and bombs are great at destroying armies, not so great at converting minds.

Why do they hate us? What makes a terrorist? We get simplistic answers from our Commander-in-Chief, like "they hate us for our freedoms." That doesn't go far in explaining why they don't seem to hate Canada, Sweden, Australia, or a whole host of other nations with democratic elections and guaranteed civil liberties.

Perhaps they hate us because we keep military bases in their holy lands. Or because our bombs and sanctions have killed hundreds of thousands of their people. Or because we encouraged them to take up arms and revolt against Saddam, but when they did we turned our back on them. Or because they perceive our military efforts as a "crusade" against their religion and people. Or because of our unquestioning support of Israel.

In my opinion, using our mighty military machine to be "on the offense" against terror is a lot like using water to put out a gasoline fire. Water is a great tool against a wood fire, but with gasoline it will just spread the conflagration.

The real tools against terrorism are human intelligence operatives, cooperation with our allies, and sensitivity toward the religious and cultural realities of the region. We need to use diplomacy to move the repressive regimes of region, like Saudi Arabia, into a democratic future. We need to work harder at solving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

What we cannot do is arrogantly stomp around the world, imposing our views of governance upon people. We must not invade and occupy countries based on "faulty intelligence". We must not be perceived as crusaders or corporate imperialists. We must not alienate the very people we claim to liberate by torturing them in their prisons.

Being on the offense against terrorism cannot be accomplished by being offensive.