This is something that really bothers me. Why don't people stop and think?
First; War on Terror is a war on an emotion - good luck, we're human and that means we emote.
Second; "War is a conflict involving the organized use of weapons and physical force by states or other large-scale groups. Warring parties usually hold territory, which they can win or lose; and each has a leading person or organization which can surrender, or collapse, thus ending the war." (Source: Wikipedia) Let's look at that: Terrorists are hardly states or large-scale groups! they are by definition small groups and more commonly individuals. While many small groups may seem to be part of a larger movement, this is not a reliable assumption. Terrorists do NOT hold territory, at least not for more than a few minutes. Finally, there is no "leader" of terrorism that can be defeated/eliminated that would cause terrorism to cease.
Freedom is the ability to act without external constraint. In a free society, all members of the society have freedom. This includes the freedom to bomb, kill, steal, torture, and run naked through the mall. Society creates laws to discourage many of these acts by implementing consequences for committing these acts - they do NOT prevent the acts from ever happening. The only method for preventing the acts from ever happening is to eliminate the society's freedom. I say eliminate because freedom is actually not a continuum. You are free, or you aren't.
Now, here's a really interesting thing - It is almost impossible to take away someone's freedom without imprisoning them. Think about it. Regardless of how constraining the legal system is, you can still do anything you want. Even in our surveillance society of today - you can still act with impunity. The only difference between now and before is that you are less likely to get away with it, and you are definitely going to be "seen." You may need to be more careful if your chosen activity requires many "nefarious" activities to occur over time; obviously the forces of order will try to stop your actions if they think you're about to break the law.
So let's look at this objectively. In order to commit an act of terror, you must be free. In order to eliminate terrorism, you must eliminate freedom. The stated goal of our key "terrorist enemies," as put forth by the Bush Administration, is to destroy America's freedom. The only way to stop them from winning the "war" is to let them continue being terrorists. This is an unwinnable conflict (for either party). Terrorists cannot win, because they can never effect the changes they seek through terror. The "freedom fighters" working against terrorists cannot win because they would have to give victory to the terrorists in order to even attempt to eliminate them using conventional tactics.
Now, let's look at the recent track record. In the name of fighting terror in a post-9/11 world, we have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, wasted thousands of lives, ruined already challenged social and economic structures, poured untold billions into the coffers of American defense contractors and created a strong distaste worldwide for all things American. This is touted as something good. Am I the only person who sees this as serious intellectual denial?! For starters - did anyone notice that the war on terror has not been about fighting terrorists, but about attacking nations that we "suspect" are harbouring them. It's somewhat like attacking a dictator because you "know" they have weapons of mass destruction. Oops, we were wrong! The terrorists weren't there, the weapons weren't either. Hey, let's take on Iran, they might have the bomb soon! Third time's the charm!
In addition, there are competent scientific analyses that show that there were no aircraft crashes in Pennsylvania or at the Pentagon (something blew up, but it wasn't aircraft); that there is no plausible explanation for the destruction of the WTC towers other than a professional demolition team. Just as a point to kick off your own research, find a photograph of either "crash" site that includes jet engines. The engines of an airliner will invariably survive any crash - there were none to be found at either site. (Note: Titanium does not vapourise in a kerosene fire). Also, get a copy of the video of the towers coming down, and time the decent. Do the math; there is only one way to bring a building down in freefall, and it doesn't involve aircraft or missiles.
The war on terror is not rational; the police state that is being created because of it is not going to "solve" any of the stated problems (it may be solving some unstated "problems," though). The entire process seems to be about increasing the amount of order/control (profit?) in the world. As any physicist can tell you, when you increase the order of a system, a balancing chaos will occur somewhere. I'm looking forward to seeing where this all ends up!
