Is the "war on terror" exaggerated ? If so, how much?

[kentuck]

Is it possible to control terrorism to the point that it is only a "nuisance" for us? Is it possible to defeat every terrorist in the world? Won't we always have some terrorism? How serious is the present terrorist threat to our nation?

We all understand what happened on 9/11 of 2001. But it was perpetrated by a relatively small number of individuals who were able to escape the intelligence and airport security precautions. Do we have more terrorists now?

[Vincardog]

1. Terror can not be defeated with military force alone. Military responses

only serve to increase terror funding and recruiting. The only way to defeat terror is to defeat the conditions that create terrorists. This is exactly counter to the misguided direction of the Fascist regime in power because the War on Terror is the Perpetual State of War the the NoeCons desire. To end terror you negotiate with more moderate elements and create conditions that give them a stake in the outcome. The more successful the moderates are the less support for the radicals. Kerry needs to point this out to the public.

[knowbody0]

2. terror is an idea

to conquer it you must know the seeds. one of the parallels i draw to the increase in terrorism is our foreign policy and with cheney's vast experience in that arena, im thinkin we mayhaps could peek at that. our motto is to never negotiate with them. i always think of the two toddlers sitting on a rock clutching their pack of pickled potatoes, behind them their village is smoldering. they look shocked and awed. and i conclude that the terrorist was one day terrified.my thoughts are naive and simple i know, but i cannot behold the concept of bombing villages, putting puppets in charge, and taking away the recourses as remedy

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. It is BY DEFINITION impossible. Terrorism is a method of action, not

a person or a nation or a football team.

While one Unabomber can sit in his kitchen in Montana and make a bomb, there is terrorism and by definition it is not "defeated".

You could just as easily try to defeat "war" itself. While the method exists and can be used, it can not be "defeated".

This is a fallacy. Ironically Pat Buchanan is one of the few media types who have written well about this.

But no nation can “end evil.” Evil has existed since Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him. A propensity to evil can be found in every human heart. And if God accepts the existence of evil, how do Frum and Perle propose to “end” it? Nor can any nation “win the war on terror.” Terrorism is simply a term for the murder of non-combatants for political ends.

http://www.amconmag.com/2004_03_01/cover.html

[el_gato]

4. It is completely phoney

Why is it that when the U.S. government murders people in covert actions it is not terror?

The post 9/11 actions have nothing to do with stopping terror and everything to do with solidifying the global U.S. hegemony.

The elite of the U.S. have been using terror as a tool for over a hundred years now. Blowback is a bitch.

[judy]

5. kentuck, the strategy set forth by BushCo

is the best way to increase terrorism around the world.
You can listen to today's "Democracy Now", it features the new documentary "Preventive Warriors".

http://www.democracynow.org/

Also, the document they refer to is here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html

Unfortunately, Kerry who keeps saying "We'll hunt the terrorists down and kill them" does not seem to understand that such a strategy does not work, and only serves to increase anger and terrorism.
He has my vote anyway, but it is sad to think that neither him nor Edwards contest this imperialistic and catastrophic strategy.

[DELUSIONAL]

6. Isn't Putin using the terror excuse to suspend democracy?

Seems to me that the concept of terror is being used against the victims.

Now potential victims (citizens of the world) are being treated like potential terrorists by both bush and Putin.