Four Years On

Four years on, and here we are. Worse for the wear. Less freedom. Less money. Less jobs. Less friends in the international community. Stuck in a war of choice that is draining our resources, that is destabilizing a part of the world that needs more stability, that is helping to create more terrorists, and that in the minds of the terrorist leaders justifies their actions. Terrorists tell the Islamic people that Americans and Christians hate them, that we want to destroy their way of life, and then we invade a nation of Islamic people that had no connection to the attacks of 9/11 in retaliation. We rightly pointed out that Saddam Hussein was an oppressive evil dictator that killed his own people, and employed torture against his enemies, and then we killed thousands of Iraqi citizens and employed the use of torture against them. We also tried to forget that it was the US government who helped him seize power and then sold arms to him.

The attacks on September 11, 2001 were horrifically evil. We were told the reason behind those attacks was that the terrorists hated freedom, and were envious of our wealth and power. Analysis, discussion, observation of any other hypothesis was verboten. If anyone dared ask questions like, “Does the United States’ foreign policy help to fuel this hatred?” or “Does our thirst for foreign oil help to finance the terrorists?” they were immediately accused of capitulating, of being weak, of being afraid. This is nonsense. Trying to understand the root causes of terrorism through a frank and open analysis of the situation is not the same thing as “understanding” the terrorists, as “aiding the terrorists,” or as “capitulating” to the terrorists. Indeed, it is vital that we consider all possible factors and explanations of any problem if that problem is to be solved.

Imagine if we used this brand of logic when confronted with other challenges that we face? Global warming for instance? Ok, bad example! How about the possible causes of cancer? What if the government said, “The increase in the incidence of cancers in the US population is explained by the advancements in medicine in the treatment of other diseases. People who used to die from infectious diseases now live long enough to develop cancer.” Certainly a possible factor, but would it then make sense to inhibit the investigation of other possible explanations?

This administration decided long ago that their agenda, their ideology will be pursued singularly, regardless of the facts or the evidence at hand. This sort of thinking is destined to fail, and it is what will ultimately cause the collapse of the neocons. Facts are persistent. Truth can only be denied temporarily. Eventually the cold and damning truth defeats any dogma or ideology that dare ignore it.