A New Kind of War? We Think Not (Oct. 15,2001)

A NEW KIND OF WAR? WE THINK NOT
Stuart Bechman, October 15, 2001

An old adage states that if you want different results than before, don't keep repeating the same old thing you've always done. Another old adage states that words are cheap - it's actions that count.

Soon after the Sept. 11 East Coast tragedy, President Bush assured the country that this new 'War Against Terrorism' would be "unlike any war we've conducted in the past."

So, one month into this 'new kind of war', what has this 'war' looked like? Well, we've got Congress dumping buckets of money into the military-industrial complex without any accountability. Our civil rights are being seriously eroded by our political leaders. Our president is giving millions of dollars to train and equip Afghani guerrillas to help them fight the war for us. And we're bombing innocent civilians while the rogue thugs that we're purported to be fighting continue to elude us with impunity.

What does Bush think we're doing that is so 'unlike any war we've conducted in the past'? The sprinkling of a few tons of old C-rations across the Afghani mountain ranges for the civilians? Other than that pathetic gesture, our country appears to be conducting the EXACT same strategies and tactics that we've always used in war in the past; and the same strategies and tactics which have never led to accomplishing any of the objectives stated to justify our actions.

Blowing up Afghani towns and spouting war-time rhetoric will do nothing except inflame this situation. We are missing a golden opportunity to take a new direction and to try to use our economic and political might to make the world a better place to live.

If Bush really wanted to conduct a war 'unlike any…in the past', he should try working through the United Nations and other international law-enforcement agencies such as the International Criminal Court; and declare support for and enforcement of the international treaties that protect and support all humankind.

He could really go all-out and significantly increase the funding of government programs for international organizations to provide food, sanitation, health care, domestic power and education to Afghanis and other porverty-stricken countries. He could take a stand against dictators and put pressure on them to allow political parties and dissent and ultimately convert the countries into democracies. He could rein in the multi-national corporations and demand that they adhere to internationally-accepted labor standards and provide a healthy beneficial work environment for all of their workers no matter where in the world they are. And he could instruct the newly-formed Office of Homeland Security to pour badly-needed monies into our infrastructures, our schools, and other domestic programs to reinvigorate the economy and minimize our domestic vulnerabilities.

Yes, that would certainly be unlike any war we've ever conducted in the past. And, in my opinion, it would have a far better chance of reaching our objectives than dropping several million tons of munitions on a country already bombed back to the Stone Age and giving the thugs an excuse to turn the International Muslim community against us.

Shame on Bush for promising a new vision while delivering the same old political/military solutions. We deserve better than that.