I voted that he is doing very poorly at fighting terrorism.
There is zero chance of winning this war. None. Never was, never will be. It doesn't matter who is in charge. Why? Firstly because by its very definition it will never work. You can't fight a war against a technique. By fighting a literal war against it you focus so much attention onto terrorism that end up doing exactly what the enemy wants you to do - giving them publicity and instilling fear. You achieve their goals.
Every terrorist killed becomes a martyr and every civilian wrongly arrested, tortured or killed provides 10 new recruits.
How many civilians have died from TWOT? When fought directly it is a like a Medusa's head. When you start turning your back on the fundamental corner stones of your society in order to fight it then you have truly lost for the terrorists have managed to destroy the most important concepts of liberty that you are trying to defend. Things like the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus, extra-judicial killings, torture and imprisonment without charge are not the acts practised by a free country; these are the signs of tyranny. It also removes any credibility the United States and its allies may have had when they wage for under the guise of "creating freedom".
So how do you fight terrorism?
1. The answer is superior intelligence gathering and good old fashioned police work. Once you find them, you give them a fair trial like any other criminal. There's no need to make a big deal out of it, just keep plugging away in the background and their attacks will be kept to a minimum.
2. Before you go to war you learn about your enemy and why he fights.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Sun Tsu
It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperilled in every single battle.
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You need to understand why normal people decide to join and fight for these fanatical organisations. You can bet your butt that they don't do it because "they hate freedom". As a hint you might want to consider the targets the 9/11 hijackers selected. They didn't attack the statue of liberty now did they?
3. You keep it in perspective. Even including the tragic events of 9/11, you are very unlikely to be killed by a terrorist attack. The chances for an American are about 1 in 8,000,000. You are more likely to be killed by a firearm during a legal intervention (1 in 1,000,000) or by a swarm of bees (1 in 5,000,000). Driving in your car offers you a 1 in 6,000 chance of death and even using stairs gives you 1 in 180,000. For those of you here who lived during the cold war you may remember how everyday we lived with the threat that some moron at a big desk in US or Russia might press that button and
END ALL LIFE ON EARTH! Now THAT, is a threat. Have a look on google video for a movie called
Threads for a lesson on how dire that threat truly was. Yet we survived without allowing the government to know our library borrowing habits, read out mail, listen to our telephone conversations (without a warrant) or imprison us indefinitely without charge or trial.
In summary: GWB on TWOT - Five Thumbs down
. He's
created many, many more terrorists and in the process set up the machinery of a dictatorship in the what was previously one of the world's greatest democracies.
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Gizele