Great article on the "war on terror"

[spartan]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2248989,00.html

It is by Simon Jenkins and is extremely well writen.

Also some of the comments left by people at the bottom are well worth the read as well.

Thoughts?

Personally i feel that this is quite a left leaning article which, though saying nothing we dont know already, is quite refreshing to find in a mainstream newspaper.

The politics of fear truely are the greatest asset to failing politicians.

And the people who end up suffering a great deal because of this politics of fear (Via Terrorism and the oppressive laws that are meant to prevent it) are the people that these "Democratic" politicians are meant to lead.

[BobKKKindle$]

The Guardian generally pushes a more progressive viewpoint, and, in addition to Socialist Worker, is one of my favorite newspapers. I agree with the sentiment of this article - the "War on Terror" provides western governments with a way to justify their support for oppressive overseas regimes, which are willing to use repressive measures to undermine the growth of popular movements which could, if allowed to develop and assume political office, challenge strategic interests. In addition, the War on Terror also provides a pre-text to conduct military invasions, as in the case of Iraq.

In this respect, I think parallels can be draw between the "War on Terror" and the Soviet Union as an "evil empire". Previously, prior to the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the alleged danger of Communism was used to justify imperialist foreign policy, and yet the events of 1991 created a need to find a new threat, to create the mass consent necessary. This threat has been found, in the form of the "War on Terror". In reality, of course, the threat posed by terrorists is grossly exaggerated, and those groups which do aim to kill civilians (and have the means to do so) are largely the product of earlier western policies, most notably Al Qaeda, which received military aid during the struggle against the Red Army in Afghanistan.

[Freedom4Tooting]

That's not a bad article at all, the Guardian is certainly quite a good paper for a mainstream national. The article made me think back to Chomsky's 'Imperial Ambitions.' The term war on terror is a joke - and as bobkindles said and as we all know is just an excuse for global military action, and the erosion of civil liberties in the act of claiming to be protecting them. What a paradox.