Shooting at Shadows...

“Then the terrorists will have won.”
You’re familiar with the phrase. It’s used to bolster our resolve, inflame our fighting spirit, and shut up the Administration’s critics that beg for our troops to come home—kids of eighteen shooting at shadows, getting killed daily by a faceless and stateless enemy, variously labeled “suicide bombers,” “terrorists,” “insurgents,” “islamists,” “radical Muslims,” “jihadists,” “intifadah,” “mujihaddeen,” “al-jazeera,” “hamas,” “al qaeda,” “Taliban,” or simply “extremists.”
Confused?
Indeed, it’s as maddening as hearing “liberals,” or “neocons” and not knowing what sets a Neo Conservative apart from a regular Conservative.
Without the Administration defining it any better, “terrorism” is quite too broad a term to dedicate a war to. It worries me that a war without a clear focus could in principle extend to become a catchall for everything that doesn’t jive with those in power. Kind of like the way it is in a totalitarian regime—such as the former Soviet Union. Or a Muslim theocracy—like Iran. Or a Christian theocracy. You know, the one we’re rapidly moving toward…

We need to demand a clear definition of what it is we’re supposed to be fighting, or next we could be taking on the entire pissed-off Muslim world or anyone FOX-News labels an extremist with a liberal agenda, like uh, Cindy Sheehan. Or do you rather stick with the handy term “insurgent?” According to my dictionary an insurgent is one who justly opposes the tyranny of constituted authorities…
Hm. Odd that the Administration has made that its favorite term.
Could we be fighting opponents of tyranny? What kind of tyranny could we possibly impose on Muslims? Invasion and destruction of holy sites? Christian doctrine? The siphoning off of oil fields?

Not to worry, folks, the quagmire's going to be over soon according to Vice President Dick Cheney, who said on Larry King that the insurgency is in its last throes.
Now, you should know, I’m very fond of the word “throes” and I use it all the time. It means “a condition of agonizing struggle or trouble.”
Wait!
Wouldn’t that make you almost sympathize with these underdogs in their throes?
Not if we paint them as elusive killers with supposedly Russia-obtained nukes that have us trembling in our Nikes.

Sure, for the next round the military will retrain its decimated forces. The CIA will get it right. We will purchase new, more effective weapons: Mini helicopters for snooping on the enemy— turbaned teams of Kalashnikov-hugging men in a dusty Toyota pickup truck threatening our way of life; Cave-busting drones to ferret out old-what’s-his-name.
The made-for-TV game of hide and seek and stealthy attack will continue, but I believe the War on Terror was lost the day it was declared. Like the War on Poverty, The War on Drugs, The War on Whatever, it is an unwinnable event, wrapped around a catch phrase, for which there’s not going to emerge a “winner,” an all-American hero to be played by Mel Gibson or Russell Crowe.
Instead, Americans will need to get used to the images the hurricanes Katrina and Rita have anchored in our not-so-sub-conscious, images of tens of thousands of citizens in peril, filing out of a region in barely moving, slowly-running-out-of-gas SUVs. Hell, who cares about terrorists in some faraway place when the weather and corrupt politicians conspire to kill you first? Terrible events for which there’s no duck tape will inevitably take place. If anything, the Administration has made that clear, when Bush recently referred to, “the mistakes of past administrations.” That’s getting mightily close to admitting that we have created the shadowy terrorists ourselves. It’s like admitting that perhaps we’re creating these “natural disasters” ourselves. It’s like admitting we could be doing things equally wrong today. But the policies haven’t changed and they aren’t bound to. They’re still lining the pockets of Halliburton and the richest contributors to the GOP’s election campaign.
We’re learning that all that’s left to expect from our governing friends are cleanup operations and acting like you’re wearing a thinking cap when you’re too dumb to correctly name your enemy, or comprehend the Kyoto Accord’s significance in fighting global warming .

So, if we can’t expect foresight, vision, and educated talent to solve the problems facing us where are we as citizens supposed to turn to? The church, that protects priests but not our children? A church, that is witness to “acts of god” that are manmade? A church that’s powerful enough to have politicians mandate scientists stop exploring areas that cause theological schizophrenia? Think again. The men of the cloth aren’t exactly problem solvers. Not in Iraq and Iran and not in Rome or Washington. So, without anything going to change we can be sure that the problems will multiply to finally strangle us—be they terrorist, or environmental, or both… Am I the only one who pictures bin Laden watching CNN and discussing how to create Katrina-like events based on our ignorance and unwillingness to create security for everyone, including, yes, including the terrorists, those shadowy figures we helped create, much in the way Mickey created the mops in Fantasia?
Without correctly identifying and acknowledging our problems and opening a dialogue, better get used to vehicles clogging freeways as liberals and republicans alike flee their homes. It’s not going to matter if your government’s ineptness did you in or the terrorists’ resolve—they’re dancers in a deadly embrace.

Yes, America is losing its innocence fast and it’s high time.
Maybe this time a Green Party will look like a valid alternative with an emphasis on the environment. Clearly, we can’t keep voting for the same guys that are making today’s mistakes. Are you comfortable with the idea of your eighteen year-old shooting at shadows in some oil-rich region of the world?

©2005 Rudolf Helder