We do not understand this conflict. A group of men lived in our midst for months and then, acting upon orders from a religious leader the other side of the world, flew four airplanes on destructive missions. Another group of people, again dressed as our neighbors, strapped explosives to their bodies and set them off in the London subways. A Spanish train is blown up, supposedly by more compatriots of the same Islamic group.
None of these people wore military uniforms. They are not part of an organized national army. They claim no allegiance to a nation-state. We cannot see them through our night goggles, call in the coordinates, and destroy their army.
But our own leadership invokes World War II, Nazi Germany, and the cold war politics of the Soviet Union and communist China. They have no understanding of our attackers. Yes, they are evil and dangerous. But our response has been all wrong.
This is not war. This is a cultural and ethnic conflict, fought with any available improvised explosive device.
We have the wrong people in charge, and they will continue to make matters worse until we nullify them with a more powerful opposition in Congress, or vote them out.
1 comment:
Calling it war is simple, and comparing it to World War II is inflammatory; that's how our current administration likes to keep things. Any attempt to actually understand and/or explain the complexities of the situation gets you labeled a "latte-sipping liberal" who "doesn't understand" George Bush's America.
We think, therefore we don't understand.
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