No more war

It's 9/11/06, and the darkness has lessened in some areas but has intensified in too many others. I need to rant. We need to stop talking about a "war on terror."

When our government decided to re-designate the terrorist attacks as a "war" instead of a "crime," we began to lose. We are fighting crazy, fanatical, Islam fundamentalist terrorists. We are not in a war against Arabs, Muslims, or Iraqis (although it sure looks like it judging by the numbers of dead and wounded in Iraq). How can we feel "right" about killing thousands of Iraqis when we give that as our reason for toppling and arresting Saddam Hussein?

This fight must be waged by the intelligence and law enforcement communities in every single country in the world. Soldiers (or "troops" as our media prefers to depersonalize them) are supposed to defend our shores and protect our citizens at home. I shudder to think of what kind of response will be possible for the next natural disaster that strikes the U.S.-- much less another terrorist attack. We have weakened our ability to take care of ourselves in North America and have promoted hatred of America more efficiently than Starbucks markets coffee.

Our leaders decided to spread democracy instead of guarding our own... and did it by tricking us into believing that we were in imminent danger. But what gives us the right to push our agenda down the throat of another nation? Does Iran have a the right to create a United Muslim States of America?

I want to feel proud of my country again. I want to be on the side of good.