War on Terror - Is it Really?

For years, I have wanted to publicly state my views and thoughts on the "war on terror". I mean, I was chomping at the bit. But I had a problem. For commentary to be successful, a journalist must not be biased, and I was. How could I write an unbiased and objective viewpoint when I had too much on the line; My son was on his second tour in Iraq, so it would have been practically impossible to write a fair posting. Well, he has returned safely, and I'm gonna to pull the gloves off.

This so-called "war on terror" is in fact a war, by any calculation. However, it is a war previously unknown to mankind. It is not your great-grandfather's in WWI, your grandfather's in WWII, or even your father's in Korea or Vietnam. Those engagements were basically simple: You knew the enemy, hopeful that they were where they were supposed to be, then tracked them down and shot them. All of them. Then you occupied their empty space, and started anew. It doesn't get much more basic than that. Identify, find, shoot and occupy. Hell, even G.I. Joe knew that.

This new war we are engaged in has no such easily defined strategy. We don't know the enemy, don't know where he is,and face stiff restrictions on who, when, where and if we should shoot them. Identifying, finding and removing them have become problematic. There are so many stumbling blocks strewn across the path to winning this war that I don't ever see it happening. And, to make matters worse, President Obama made a huge blunder. He "declared war on Al-Qaeda".

You must understand this. A declaration of war means strict compliance with the Geneva Convention standards of warfare. Well, now we have put ourselves under an umbrella of rules and regulations that must be followed. Picture Osama bin-Laden huddled in a cave with his followers, somewhere in the world, saying "Okay guys, here are the rules. No more cowardly acts. We must now fight fair". Now, imagine all those eyes going glowing white with incredulity, as if they are saying, "Well, what do we do now?.

This war on terror is no traditional war and doesn't fit well with traditional standards of conduct. Al-Qaeda has written their own set of rules, and we must write ours if we are to have any chance of victory. During the two Great Wars, we gathered intelligence from the local populace. They had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Now, a huge majority of the locals are at least mildly sympathetic to the terrorists, and are not as forthcoming in their information.

There is no defined front in this new war. The enemy isn't wearing a Vietnamese pith helmet or a German 'SS' patch on his soldier. He is wearing clothing considered casual, blending right in with normal citizenry of any and all countries. Yet, he does not have any rules, while our hands our so entirely tied we ain't getting loose.

Our intelligence gathering community is at great risk, as seen by the cowardly suicide bombing on a remote CIA outpost in Afghanistan. 7 dead United States officers. This country relies too much on our 'allies' help. The intel guys need to develop their own intelligence, and have the ability to act once it is in their own hands.

If there is credible information available, why must those intel guys go through all the bureaucratic b.s. to remove one threat? Taking him down, immediately, must be allowable, right there in the field. Then, allow our guys any means necessary to get more intelligence. Yes, I mean up to and including torture. You get what you need, in any way you can, to prevent more attacks against the United States and her citizens. How someone can justify killing innocent men, women and children is beyond my comprehension.

I'm not much for the Bible, but "an eye for an eye" sticks out for me. I do not mean wholesale slaughter of civilians in terrorists' safe haven countries. But we must be allowed to maximize the use of force necessary to combat bin-Laden and the string-pullers, and the pesky minions that do their dirty work. Find, capture and retrieve information as needed, playing by their rules. See how they react to payback, using the same formula they themselves use.

The misguided political agendas running this war must face reality and reset themselves to play a whole different game. The rules have changed dramatically, and so must we. Give our guys what they need to protect us. I don't care one whit if the President of France says he is outraged by our actions. See what happens if the Eiffel Tower gets blown up. I just bet that France takes another look at the role his country plays (doesn't play) in world affairs.

The war on terrorism is global, and every country, save a few, are at risk. If you want to win, take off the kid gloves, screw world opinion, and go get what intelligence you need, any way you can. Al-Qaeda has set the bar and the rules. We cannot continue to react to what they have done. We must be proactive to what they are going to do. Let the United Nations moan and groan and complain. The U.N. is a useless, toothless body anyway. We must use the Old West mantra of shot first and ask questions later. Only, don't shoot to kill if possible. Shoot to maim, to allow us to glean any information possible. To fight the savages and criminals, we must be likewise.. Our very survival depends on it.

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