Facing "Fear" of Terrorism

Rosa Brooks is a mindless left-wing crank, frankly. In today's column she argues that the "war on terror" is useless, that there's always been terrorism, and there always will be - so why bother with outrage? Just get used to it:

Mumbai should remind us -- again -- of the folly of the Bush administration's "war on terror." Terror is an emotion, and terrorism is a tactic. You can't make "war" against it. Even if meant as mere metaphor, "the war on terror" foolishly enhanced the terrorist's status as prime boogeyman, arguably increasing the psychological effectiveness of terrorist tactics. Worse, it effectively lumped together many different organizations motivated by many different grievances -- a surefire route to strategic error.

Like crime, terrorism will always be with us, and terrorist attacks will increase as long as we succumb to the panic they're intended to inspire. But if we resist the temptation to lash out indiscriminately, we can take sober steps to reduce terrorism through improved intelligence, carefully targeted disruptions of specific terrorist organizations and efforts to address specific grievances (such as disputes over Kashmir). With a new U.S. administration about to take office, isn't it finally time to say goodbye to the "war on terror"? After all, we already have two real wars to worry about.

Actually, like crime, terrorism can be defeated if societies take the appropriate steps to combat it.

If there's any moral outrage for Brooks, it's directed against those who refuse to give terrorists the upper hand, like the Bush administration. And that's really what this essay is all about: President-Elect Obama, "The One," has a chance to heal the world with his magical powers - no more "war" against the major ideological challenge now facing facing us. Transcendance and understanding will overcome.

But wait! Brooks' recommendations for a new effort to combat terrorism look a whole lot like the old efforts to combat terrorism: intelligence, targeting of terror cells, political initiatives (all of which describes current administation policy).

What Brooks is trying say is we should never use violence, because supposedly we'll be giving the terrorists what they want.

And really, all that's suggesting is that Western societies should disarm themselves, and focus on "confidence-building" and the "lessening of tensions."

Click here to see what it looks like when societies capitulate to the "fear" of alienating their enemies.