Losing the War on Terror
by David Wiggins
There you have it. There is no longer any doubt whether the Bush administration’s
actions are having an impact on terrorist activity. They are having a definite impact. They
are increasing terror. Bottom line: No one truck bombed the UN compound in Iraq when
Saddam Hussein was in charge.
We have Jordanian Embassy bombings, oil and water pipeline explosions, SAM missile
potshots at airliners in Kenya and SAM missile salesmen in the USA, attacks on
peacekeepers in Afghanistan, suicide bombings in Israel, Bali, and Saudi Arabia, a
rejuvenated Taliban, a nuclear North Korea, a nuclear Iran, Osama bin Laden on the
loose, Saddam Hussein on the loose, and the USA in 4th place on the world terror hit list.
What is Bush’s response to all of this? Losing is winning. You see, the more it looks like
we are losing – bombs and explosions, incinerated Humvees, dead soldiers and civilians,
debt, deficit, drugs, etc., the more we are actually winning. It’s all very simple to Dubya.
Getting our asses kicked is a sign of progress. It is a sign of "desperation" on the part of
the "dead-enders". On August 19th, referring to the attack on the UN complex in
Baghdad, Bush said:
"Every sign of progress in Iraq adds to the desperation of the terrorists and the remnants
of Saddam's brutal regime."
You know the dead-enders. They are the "give me liberty or give me death" crowd. They
have this silly idea that if they keep using irregular tactics against their occupiers, they
might actually defeat King George… uh, I mean… President George Bush.
Bush and Blair lies to the contrary, it is now clear that US and British intelligence services
as well as any other intelligence services they cared to ask knew that Al-Qaeda had little
or no presence in Iraq before the US invasion. Saddam Hussein made sure of that. He
didn’t want any competition. The only Islamist group in Iraq at all, Ansar-al-Islam, was
confined to a small remote corner of northern Iraq. Saddam Hussein could not get at them
there because the area was under the protection of the United States via its
unsanctioned "Northern No Fly Zone."
Now we see that the US invasion of Iraq is the best thing that ever happened to Ansar-al-
Islam. Paul Bremer, the US civilian administrator in Iraq, said there was, "clear evidence of
an Al-Qaeda-related terrorist group, the Ansar al-Islam, reconstituting its capabilities
inside of Iraq since the war". The group is now operating all over Iraq. It is suspected in
the bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad on august 7th. The Al-Qaeda
recruiters haven’t had it so good since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A recently
released message to the Al-Qaeda troops exhorts them to go to Iraq to kill Americans. But
this is all good news to the Bush Administration. It just shows how desperate all those
terrorists are. "Bring them on!" says George. I’ll bet the UN personnel really appreciate
that.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban seem very desperate. In case no one noticed, those dead-
enders are making more comebacks than Freddy Krueger. Last week witnessed the
bloodiest week in Afghanistan since the US invasion of that country, with over 100 dead
due to bus bombings, rocket attacks, clashes with Taliban militants, and between rival
militias in southern and southeastern Afghanistan.
Remember George Bush telling us that the drug trade was a major source of financing for
terrorism? It is a sign of how desperate things are in Afghanistan that the production of
opium for heroin is up to its highest levels ever. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
called the production of opium in Afghanistan a "whale of a problem." The country now is
the largest opium producer in the world – and to think that the Taliban had essentially
eliminated opium production in Afghanistan. Now that is desperation! Given President
Bush’s losing is winning philosophy; Afghanistan is a two-bagger because there, we seem
to be losing both the "War on Terror" and the "War on Drugs." Opium production is up in
Colombia too. Representative Henry Hyde states that opium production in Colombia has
revived. It supplies, he stated, ''more than 60 percent of U.S. heroin.'' George Bush, of
course, would say that all this just shows how desperate the terrorists and opium
producers are for money.
Osama Bin Laden must be very desperate. He keeps sending out inspirational messages
to his mujahadeen. On August 18th he exhorted the mujahadeen to go to Iraq to fight US
forces. On the 19th he claimed responsibility for the largest blackout in US history.
President Bush says we’ll "smoke him out". Osama must have an incredible tolerance for
smoke. We have been "smoking" for almost two years now. Producing all that smoke, no
wonder the Bush administration is opposed to the Global Warming Treaty. But not only
are we "smoking him out," we are "tightening the noose" around Osama’s neck. I wonder
if there is a Guinness Book of World Records entry for "world’s largest noose" or
perhaps, "worlds slowest tightening noose."
George must be ecstatic about the desperation shown by the terrorists on the home front.
According to the London-based World Markets Research Center, the US is the 4th most
likely nation to experience a terrorist attack. Of 186 nations, we come in behind only
Colombia, Israel, and Pakistan. Remember the terror alert system? You know the Crayola
crayon color-coded system any child could understand? Perhaps Dubya could explain to
my eight year old son why the code has never dropped below yellow if we are safer from
terrorism than we were a year ago. Little David keeps asking me that, but I can’t give him
a convincing explanation. Perhaps you could do it, Dubya, I mean you being the
"education President" and all that? Why I even recall that no national crisis would stop
you from finishing your lesson with elementary students.
Actually, this losing is winning philosophy President Bush describes explains a lot to me.
Not only does it explain the "War on Terror" and the "War on Drugs, " but it helps me
understand how the massive budget deficit is good for our economy, how the massive
trade deficit is good for the future of our nation, how the "Patriot Act" is good for my
freedom, how refusal to sign the "Global Warming Treaty" is good for the environment,
how developing new nuclear weapons helps stop nuclear proliferation, how government
secrecy regarding energy, 911, Iraq (mis)intelligence, etc., is good for democracy, how….
well, you get the point. In fact, according to this philosophy, George Bush must be the
best president ever. But, Helen Thomas already said that.
August 21, 2003
