Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski has a piece worth reading in the Washington Post today. When I first read it, I was often thinking – “well this is stating the obvious.” But then I remember that stating the obvious hasn’t been such a common thing in places like the Washington Post for years now. In fact, I’d rather like to see more of this. A few key points from the article:
The “war on terror” has created a culture of fear in America.
[ . . . ]
The damage these three words have done — a classic self-inflicted wound — is infinitely greater than any wild dreams entertained by the fanatical perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks when they were plotting against us in distant Afghan caves. The phrase itself is meaningless. It defines neither a geographic context nor our presumed enemies. Terrorism is not an enemy but a technique of warfare — political intimidation through the killing of unarmed non-combatants.
[ . . . ]
Constant reference to a “war on terror” did accomplish one major objective: It stimulated the emergence of a culture of fear. Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue.
[ . . . ]
That is the result of five years of almost continuous national brainwashing on the subject of terror, quite unlike the more muted reactions of several other nations (Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, to mention just a few) that also have suffered painful terrorist acts.
[ . . . ]
Such fear-mongering, reinforced by security entrepreneurs, the mass media and the entertainment industry, generates its own momentum. The terror entrepreneurs, usually described as experts on terrorism, are necessarily engaged in competition to justify their existence. Hence their task is to convince the public that it faces new threats.
Brzezinski goes on to explore various examples of how this happens, and it’s well worth reading the whole. And then he closes with this:
Where is the U.S. leader ready to say, “Enough of this hysteria, stop this paranoia”? Even in the face of future terrorist attacks, the likelihood of which cannot be denied, let us show some sense. Let us be true to our traditions.
Yes. Those traditions we used to honor as American values.