The war on terror isn't working

[Rune]

The 'war on terror' isn't working

Those most deeply invested in the status quo--those benefiting from a condition of perpetual war--dismiss alternatives out of hand, arguing that no choice exists but to press on.
What Americans refer to as terrorism is more accurately this: a violent outgrowth of chronic political dysfunction and economic underdevelopment affecting large parts of the Islamic world, exacerbated by deep-seated sectarian divisions and the pernicious legacy of European colonialism and further complicated by the presence of Israel, all together finding expression in antipathy toward the West and especially the United States. For the “war on terror” to succeed, it will have to remedy the conditions giving rise to that antipathy in the first place.


For several decades now, U.S. forces have ventured into this region hoping to do just that. They have bombed, raided, invaded and occupied. They have eliminated the noxious, liberated the oppressed, succored the afflicted, promoted democracy and undertaken ambitious nation-building projects. While expending trillions, they have fought, suffered and died. Certainly, they have killed in exceedingly large numbers.Their exertions, however, have accomplished next to nothing. The Greater Middle East trembles on the brink of disintegration. From Libya to Iraq to Afghanistan, evidence abounds that the American military project has failed. If anything, the application of U.S. power has made things worse.


Yet alternatives discomfiting the establishment just might work to the benefit of the American people. Consider the following three-point strategy to remove the threat of radical Islam.
Point one: Self-protect. Terrorism poses a modest, immediate threat to the United States. In the near-term, the appropriate response is to provide adequate resources and effective leadership to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and agencies responsible for securing U.S. borders. In simplest terms, “keeping America safe” begins with keeping the bad guys from getting to us.



Point two: Restore stability. In the medium term, tamping down the turmoil roiling the core of the Middle East is a priority. Absent a willingness to occupy Iraq and Syria for a decade or more with a force of several hundred thousand troops, this is not a task the U.S. military can accomplish.


Instead, it's a job that the major regional powers must take on. For Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and, yes, Israel, the so-called caliphate represents a truly existential threat. The task confronting the U.S. is a diplomatic one: nudging these antagonists to recognize the interest that they hold in common and to act accordingly. Easily achieved? By no means. Yet nudging holds greater promise than committing U.S. troops to a fight that rightly belongs to those closer to the scene.


oint three: Promote agents of change. Not all the news coming from within the Islamic world is bad. Many young people there prefer modernity to martyrdom. Here lies the long-term solution to the problem we face. When Muslims find their path to reconciling faith with modern life, peaceful coexistence with the West becomes a possibility. That it may take decades or even generations for that path to materialize is no doubt the case. Over time, however, a sustained campaign of cultural and educational exchanges will help persuade young Muslims that we are not their enemy.
All of this will require patience on our part. But who really thinks that more bombs will yield a better outcome?
Andrew Bacevich is author of the new book "America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History."
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Copyright © 2017, Los Angeles Times
A version of this article appeared in print on March 15, 2016, in the Opinion section of the Los Angeles Times with the headline "The `war on terror' isn't working - Sustained cultural and educational exchanges, not bombs, are key to countering radical Islam." —

[Rune]

Corbyn: We have to admit 'war on terror' is not working

[Rune]

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over in the expectation of a different result, then our foreign policy surely qualifies as madness. Since 2001, in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, the United States has been in a state of constant warfare: the Afghan conflict has been ongoing since that time, the longest sustained combat in our history. From Iraq to Syria to Somalia and beyond, US forces and their proxies are engaged in a “war on terrorism” that shows no signs of slowing down, only expanding.
And where has it gotten us?
In Afghanistan, more than half the country is under the control of the Taliban, the radical Islamist group that sheltered Osama bin Laden – and they are now joined by ISIS, which has extended its tentacles into that country.

And where has it gotten us?
In Afghanistan, more than half the country is under the control of the Taliban, the radical Islamist group that sheltered Osama bin Laden – and they are now joined by ISIS, which has extended its tentacles into that country.
In Iraq, after our war of “liberation,” a civil war pitting Shi’ites against Sunnis is raging, and terrorist attacks are the norm. The Iranians have extended their sphere of influence into the country, and US troops are still fighting there, despite the much-heralded “withdrawal.”
The focus of US military action in the Middle East has now shifted to Syria, where a multi-sided civil war has been raging ever since the so-called Arab Spring. There we have managed to destabilize the regime of Bashar al-Assad by supporting alleged “moderate” Islamists, while we simultaneously fight ISIS – which is tacitly supported by our “moderate” proxies. The result has been a disaster of epic proportions: hundreds of thousands dead, as refugees pour out of the country and into Europe.

Far from winding down, the “war on terrorism” is constantly expanding. The latest front is in Yemen – arguably the poorest country on earth – where our Saudi allies, aided by the US, are slaughtering civilians, bombing funeral processions, and setting off a famine that will kill many thousands more. And while al-Qaeda does indeed have an active franchise in Yemen, the Saudis aren’t targeting them – they’re going after the Houthis, a religious sect that is neither Sunni nor Shi’ite, whose adherents are fighting both the Saudis and al-Qaeda. The Houthi-Saudi war started because Saudi missionaries were spreading Sunni fundamentalism in their historic homeland: in short, the Houthis are resisting the very extremism that provides terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS with their base of support. Yet we are aiding Saudi Arabia – the epicenter of global terrorism – in their merciless war of aggression.
All this frenzied military action – the bombs, the proxy armies, the “surges” – has led to precisely the opposite of its intended result. If our “war on terrorism” was supposed to end or even reduce the incidents of terrorism in the West, it must be judged an absolute failure.
All across Europe, terrorists are swarming like termites after a rain. We saw what happened yesterday [Monday] in Manchester: the biggest attack in Britain since 2005, and the culmination of a series of prior incidents. In France and Germany it’s the same story.


And in the United States, the trail of post-9/11 terror follows the same pattern: far from diminishing, the number of terrorist incidents is on the upswing. Sixteen years after the twin towers fells, we are less safe – and less free. Draconian security measures are now taken for granted, and that includes not only cumbersome rules and restrictions around airline flights but also universal surveillance. Engulfed in a quagmire of perpetual war, we are fast approaching the condition of a police state – with not even the benefit of increased security.
Most ominously, the ranks of the terrorist armies are swelling, as hatred of America and the West is incorporated into the religious tenets of Islam. Some argue that Islam was always antithetical to Western values and norms, but this debate is now rendered irrelevant as the cycle of violence and repression makes this proposition a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The roots of this disaster are in the presidency of George W. Bush: he and his neoconservative advisors launched a war that was supposed to transform the Middle East into a laboratory of “democracy” – exported by force of arms. The idea, as expressed by neoconservative ideologues, was to “drain the swamp” of the Middle East, so altering the environment in which the “mosquitoes” of terrorism lived and flourished that they would be unable to produce a second generation. Yet we are now into the third generation – and they are more numerous than ever, buzzing around Europe and even the US, stinging at will.
So what’s the solution?
Let’s start by acknowledging that what we’re doing isn’t working.
That’s half the battle right there.


The other half involves winding down the multiple conflicts we’re presently engaged in. Afghanistan is a hopelessly Sisyphean conflict that can never be “won” – it’s long past time to get out. If the Iraqi government we put in place is incapable of defending itself, then let them fall – we can no more prevent that than King Canute could stop the tide from coming in. Syria is a catastrophe made in Washington: our “regime change” policy doomed that country to perdition. We should have the decency to recognize that, and stay out of their internal affairs: let Assad and the Russians take care of their terrorist problem.
We here at Antiwar.com have been saying the same thing, consistently, since 2001.
Since 1995, Antiwar.com has been the premier voice of dissent when it comes to our interventionist foreign policy. We said the Afghan war would become a quagmire unless we took care of business and got out as quickly as we went in – and so it came to pass. We warned that the Iraq war would be very far from a “cakewalk,” as some of the neocons assured us, and that it would spread throughout the region – and we were right about that, too. We said funding “moderate” Islamists in Syria was not only a mistake, but also a crime – a crime, I might add, that is ongoing, despite the campaign rhetoric of President Trump.
And while it would be in poor taste to say “I told you so!” – well, we didwarn that the “war on terrorism” would result in more terrorism, not less. Now we are living in that reality.

Yet still the voice of the War Party dominates our national discourse. The same neocons who authored this catastrophe are all over our national media, and are being listened to – at least, by those in a position to make policy.



http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2...-isnt-working/

[BillyB]

Your full of bull s... Muslim extremists from taught from the koran want Western
Civilization destryed along with Christians . ISIS kills the unarmed
Millions of Muslims couldn't take out 1,000 Isis militants just looked the other way or ran !!! America doesn't run !! Majority of America is armed
& willing to protect self & family , neighbor and country . America was started with Brittish DEPLORABLES UNHAPPY TO BE A SUBJECT . CONSTITUTION IS FOR ALL , NOT RULING PARTY .



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[Cypress]

Your full of bull s... Muslim extremists from taught from the koran want Western
Civilization destryed along with Christians . ISIS kills the unarmed
Millions of Muslims couldn't take out 1,000 Isis militants just looked the other way or ran !!! America doesn't run !! Majority of America is armed
& willing to protect self & family , neighbor and country . America was started with Brittish DEPLORABLES UNHAPPY TO BE A SUBJECT . CONSTITUTION IS FOR ALL , NOT RULING PARTY .

Tired of living with bigotry? Tired of living in a constant state of fear? Islamophin may help! Confer with your doctor.




In other news....your buddies in the Islamophobia industry are now attacking Jewish people and Sikhs....because they are too fucking stupid to tell the difference between Jews, Sikhs, and Muslims!

Get out of my country’: Drunk New Yorker attacks Jewish women after mistaking them for Muslims

In a subway station in Queens, New York, a drunk bigot attacked a Jewish mother and daughter after mistaking them for Muslims, the*New York Daily News reports. Being mistaken for Muslim has often lead to enraged bigots attacking people verbally and physically. Less than a week ago, a Sikh man in*a turban was verbally abused by a woman who thought he was Muslim, and video of the incident went viral.

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/get...m-for-muslims/

[Minister of Truth]

Fuck CAIR.