Terror as theater

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In my American idols post I observed how busy the present Congress is going about its task of protecting America's constitutional freedom from the clear and present dangers posed by free speech, civil partnerships, progressive taxation, reproductive choice, living wages and an independent media. I noted that capturing Bin Laden and ending the 'war on terror' didn't seem to be too high on the priority list for a governing body so sated with this jihad against liberal values.

Ben, a commenter, said he's never thought of the war on terror in that way before. He went on to suggest:

If Bin Laden were to be captured, it is quite likely that 'war on terror' would no longer be politically feasible.

Such begs the question: If Bin Laden were to be captured, would it be a greater defeat for terrosim, or for those who use terrorism as an excuse to seek dominion over us all?

Indeed. Although I suspect things may transition as they do in Orwell's 1984. Yesterday's ally once again becomes tomorrow's enemy. If we are not at war with the Soviets or 'Islamic fascists' it will be some other bogeyman. For all eternity.

Is this perhaps what is really meant by the end of history?

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4 Comments

Ben Abbott on August 23, 2006 6:49 AM
Mark, I like your metaphorical interpretation of the "end of history". Personally, I see such metaphorical interpretation as being more proper and useful than the literal interpreations that are so much more broadly embraced. However, I'm more inclinded to see our "War on Terror" more as politics-as-usuaul. When fear and passions run high, there is an amble supply of politicians prepared to pander to such basic human emotions to garner the support of the masses. Today I saw a couple of videos that drive that home for me. Here's a report on possible manipulations by the administration, http://websrvr20.audiovideoweb.com/avwebdswebsrvr2143/news_video/CountdownTerrorNexus56K.mov and another on a new comers attempt to pander to these fears to get elected in the fall. http://websrvr20.audiovideoweb.com/avwebdswebsrvr2143/news_video/CountdownTerrorNexus56K.mov Regards
Ben Abbott on August 23, 2006 7:42 AM
... trying again with html tags. The 1st link is here and the second is here I'm not savvy on html, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed ;-) Regards
Sorry about the tags issue Ben. I have it enabled in MT but for some reason the server still strips them out when the comments are displayed!
(I upgraded MT and reconfigured my settings. Thanks for pointing this out Ben.)

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