nan | 楠木

Israel’s month long war came to a cease-fire recently. I’ve not followed it closely, but according to my understanding of the situation, Israel has not achieved much. Instead, it probably elevated Hezbollah’s position in Lebanon.

Israel labels this war as a war against terrorism, but I don’t think the whole world would agree. The irony, however, is that like all the wars claiming to be “war on terror” in recent years, the results have been far from satisfactory. If, that is, terrorism is the real purpose of those wars.

Afghanistan: this country has gradually slipped out of the world’s attention, except for the occasional reports on military action. Osama is still to be found.

Iraq: we all know how this one played out. The U.S. is still dragged down in the mess. And it is not really a war on terror rather than a brazen invasion of a sovereign state.

In Lebanon, if the purpose is to reduce Hezbollah’s power, by all indications from the news media, we can see that Hezbollah is certainly strong and well. It may even increase its popularity and support by playing an active part in the rebuilding process. In terms of military strength, it may certainly have suffered some blows, but that also remains unclear at this point.

If I may say so, by all means the war on terror has not been successful, and will not be successful going down its present path. Military aggression and use of force, can only be successful to the extent that it suppresses or deters terror–in economic terms, it only raises the cost of terrorism as it is more likely you’ll receive retribution. Therefore, it may help to reduce the “supply” of terror.

However, continuing in this simple economic analysis, the war on terror does nothing to reduce the demand for terror. Terrorism arises from myriad factors and issues, but military action does nothing to address these issues. As long as these issues exist, such as poverty and social injustice, and western democracies are seen as the cause of these issues, then terrorists will continue to appear, and acts of terrorism will not cease. The demand is too great.

Furthermore, the war on terror aggravates many of the already existing issues, stimulating further hatred, thereby creating greater demand. Therefore, like many people have said, the war on terror is self-defeating. Which really is the biggest irony and tragedy–not only for the US, but for the whole world.