January 05, 2007

The War Not Being Fought

With the dawning of 2007, the Bush Administration continues to bloviate about the global war on terror. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the terrorism generated by violent crime continues to surge ahead in America.
The FBI’s Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report, based on statistics submitted by 11,535 law enforcement agencies, depicts that, overall, violent crime – including robbery, homicide, aggravated assault, and rape – has accelerated. These statistics vindicate the posture of many law enforcement officials who have maintained that the Bush Administration, by overly focusing on international terrorism, inadvertently has given space for domestic crime to flourish in America.
This has been the largest crime increase in 15 years. The biggest increase in murder rates has been in big cities.
Increasingly, however, the so-called global war on terror is being exposed as a weapon of mass distraction to divert attention from colossal failures on the domestic front.
There is a pervasive righteousness in the Bush Administration propelled by a sense that “we are better”. This arrogance is one important factor in driving this misdirected war. A little bit of self-scrutiny would be most refreshing.
Within America itself, there are a myriad of socio-economic issues including but not limited to poverty, loneliness, homelessness, out-of-wedlock births, loss of parental and teacher authority, youth delinquency, which requires immediate redress. All of these represent the darker side-effects of a modern developed society.
An outside visitor to US hospitals is immediately struck at the sight of so many elderly patients lying alone and dying alone, bereft of family presence and support. America needs to take a closer critical look at its existing domestic trends and family values.
For any society, all of the above would be a blight. For a rich, developed society which feels that it has the luxury to spend billions of dollars to fight foreign demons abroad, this is unacceptable and untenable. The resources squandered in the so-called ‘war on terror’ could have been better deployed in the war against poverty and socio-economic inequity.
This point, in effect, was made by Dr. Muhammad Yunus during the December 10 award-giving ceremony at Oslo, Norway, where he, along with his Grameen Bank, were jointly awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Yunus is the originator of the micro-credit movement, which has enabled the poor in Bangladesh and elsewhere to fight poverty through self-empowerment. This idea has inspired the world, including former US President Bill Clinton, who championed this concept in his home state of Arkansas.
The war on terror has already proven to be a wrong war. That war has been the war of choice. It has, among other things, isolated the US, caused huge civilian casualties, killed and maimed the cream of American youth, radicalized its foes and antagonized its allies. All of this for a non-cause. The Bush Administration has no exit strategy nor does it have a persuasive rationale for sustaining its involvement.
The right war would be to re-direct resources and energies to fight against the afore-mentioned social evils. It is a war that has to be fought right now.