Fear

My post on Al Gore’s speech highlighted a quote that has also been cited by bloggers Kos and Tom Tomorrow. Each of us takes a different perspective on that quote in our posts but a central point is that the “Global War on Terrorism” is not exactly the threat to this nation that BushCheney has used to justify his war and near-dictatorial powers for the past four years. The 9-11 attack was a horrible, costly event, no doubt about that. But it does not justify much of what this nation has done in response.

The 9-11 Commission found that BushCheney ignored intelligence that would have led to further investigation and perhaps disrupted the plot. Despite the changes in intelligence policies and interrogation methods introduced since 2001, what would have been more effective in 2001 and(even now) would have been someone awake at the wheel. BushCheney and his administration missed all the clues.

And his response has been nothing short of disastrous. America, with the support of much of the world, attacked al-Quaeda in Afghanistan but left that country in the lurch as BushCheney launched an unnecessary war in Iraq. He claims America is safer now, as evidenced by the lack of attacks on “the Homeland” but the claim is specious. Al-Quaeda may have been disrupted but it is far from eliminated as a threat. Moreover, they now have a most convenient target in the American forces in Iraq. Our casualties there will soon exceed the 9-11 toll.

The recent estimate of the total cost for the Iraq War further illustrates the scope of this disaster. Because terrorists killed some 3,300 Americans and caused hundreds of billions of dollars in economic damage, we are now engaged in a war that will kill at least that many more Americans and scores of thousands of Iraqi and Afghani lives at a cost of one to two trillion dollars.
A good rule of thumb is that you don’t spend more to solve a problem than the problem is actually costing. It’s called cost-effectiveness. The Global War on Terror is not cost-effective. It’s not even effective.

Terrorism is a real problem, but it’s not World War II or the Cold War. As Gore said, “Fear drives out reason. Fear suppresses the politics of discourse and opens the door to the politics of destruction.”

Some perspective would be good here. I hope Al Gore is not the last to speak out.