Terror in the mirror

The Bush administration has recently blitzed the media with a wave of justifications for the war in Iraq and the War on Terror in order to convince the public of the non-existent connection between the two. But in all the unsatisfying explanations, Bush fails to mention that we're not fighting a war on terror ... we're engaging in our own form of terrorism.\nBush tirelessly frames this war as a battle between good and evil -- the holy land of the free versus the freedom-hating enemy. Alluding to our glorious struggles against "evil" in 20th century wars, Bush said, "... America has confronted evil before, and we have defeated it."\nBut then I wonder -- was evil defeated or perpetuated when more than 200,000 Japanese (mostly civilians) were killed by our atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Who should we call "evil" when innocent Vietnamese men, women and children were killed by napalm bombs that burned through to their muscles and bones?\nAnd today, when we destroy cities, national infrastructures and valued natural resources; when we "accidentally" kill civilians; when a few members of our freedom defenders rape and kill women and children because our troops are taught not to see the enemy others as human; then our war becomes evil versus evil. Nothing justifies dehumanization and death.\nTrust me, I'm not trying to sympathize with the enemy. But our country would be stronger, bolder and more just with a refusal to counter death with death, terror with terror. Imagine how much stronger and safer we'd be if the billions of dollars we've spent on bombs and war expenses were diverted to securing our airports, our sea ports, our defense systems?\nMany call this perspective "soft" -- or with a more sexist dismissal, some call mine an "effeminate" worldview. "We can't negotiate with terrorists," some argue, so the only solution is to go on the offensive: hit them before they hit us. In other words, we don't like it when people who disagree with our ideologies attack us, kill our citizens and disrupt our way of life. In fact, we dislike it so much that we will attack and kill all of them for their ideologies and disrupt the lives of innocent citizens in countries around the world.\nBush stubbornly cries, "The war ... will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious." They kill us or we kill them. Interesting how we spread democracy with such an anti-democratic philosophy. "Kill every last one of 'em" sounds more like our own brand of terrorism.\nTotal eradication of one side is not the solution. What Bush fails to acknowledge is that there will always be an "other," an "extremist" whose views don't jive with ours. Negotiation, diplomacy, sanctions and other alternatives may be difficult and lengthy journeys, but to claim that our war of terror, death and destruction is the only solution simply mirrors the rigid, extremist philosophies we oppose.