War on Terror

I hate the term War on Terror. The word war implies something that has a beginning and end. Like the "war on drugs", terror is not something you fight against for a fixed period of time. It is something that will ALWAYS exist. You can not fight a series of battles and expect it to go away. It requires constant vigilance, constant disruption of resources, and removal of leaders as they appear. But new terrorists will always appear - there will always be some issue that motivates a group of passionate people to feel the only way to achieve their goals is through violence. Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, and George Washington are good examples of such people.

I also worry that the War on Terror is an excuse to keep us in perpetual war. Being in a state of war gives political leaders ability to do things they would never get away with normally. It is an important part of creating a totalitarian state, as seen in the novel 1984.