by James Glaser
September 16, 2003

Just a few years ago people trying to force out a corrupt government were called freedom fighters. Today anyone that is fighting against any government anywhere, is branded a terrorist.

It wasn't that long ago that we were rooting for the people of Chechnya that were fighting to get their own country. These people fought the Soviet Union to a stand still. Now these people have become terrorists, because they won't give up their bid for freedom.

Today George Washington and those that fought for our independence would be called terrorists, because we didn't fight "clean." America's freedom fighters back in 1776 fought a guerilla war in order to get us our own country. We used the terrorist tactics of the day.

If the Chechens are using terrorist tactics, what does that have to do with us? Those people are fighting their own war and they can do whatever they want. The same goes for Columbia. Columbia's civil war has been going on for decades and now President Bush has decided who are the terrorists and who are the patriots. Both sides kill and both sides are brutal. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to help one side over the other and still the cocaine still flows into our country. Who the heck are we to pick sides in another county's civil war? Columbians makes their money off of the cocaine trade, the government blames it on the rebels. Isn't that convenient?

Look at Afghanistan. We defeated those we branded as terrorists and now the country we "Saved from Terrorism" is the leading producer of heroin in the world. The side we picked is dumping heroin into our country and the rest of the world, but those doing that are not terrorists, because they were on our side.

We have one terrorist group to deal with and that is al Qaida. They attacked the United States. It was President Bush that decided because of that attack, we would take on any group in the world that he decided were terrorists. It all depends on which side you are on. In many parts of this world we are branded as the terrorists, because we bomb and kill innocent civilians.

Does it really matter if you have a bomb that is built in a factory or one that is built in an apartment? They both kill indiscriminately.

We keep hearing about Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. We think of these groups as terrorists, but they are not "our" terrorists. These groups are attacking Israel, trying to get themselves a homeland. No one can tell me that Israel does not use terrorist tactics on the Palestinians. These people are having their own civil war and I see nothing wrong with letting them go at it, without us. They are going at it now with us on one side and that is a big reason that we have al Qaida to worry about.

Who knows what is going on in the jungles of the Philippines? But here we are again taking one side over the other. Why can't we work at making the United States a better country. We have plenty of our own problems and now we put those problems on the back burner and stick our nose in these other countries. We can't win doing this, because in every conflict we pick a side in, we are telling the other side that we are their enemy.

It pretty much boils down to money. Israel has an incredible lobbying campaign in Washington, trying to keep us right in the middle of their conflict. Why is that? Money! We give Israel billions and billions of dollars every year and that money is spread all around to insure that we keep doing just that, give billions and billions of dollars.

Every country that we stick our nose in, costs us billions and somebody in Washington gets a piece of that. We sell the most weapons in the world, so it is to our advantage to keep terrorism going, keep civil wars going, and keep countries attacking each other. Many American families are rich because of that and the Bush family is one of them.

It isn't only the weapons we sell. There are also the hundreds of thousands of troops that we keep overseas. Those troops have to be supported. This support is not like the slogan. "Support our Troops," no, this support is the uniforms, food, vehicles, fuel, medicine, mattresses, blankets, and pillows. Everything people need to live. Some Americans are rich because of sales to the Pentagon for these items and they don't want those sales to stop.

For several years now there has been a push to bring our troops home. Many thousands of troops have been protecting Europe from the Soviet Union for over fifty years and those 37,000 troops in Korea have been there for fifty years too.

Well the people that make the money off of those troops and our interventions around the globe, could not be happier, because they now have international terrorism. What a shot in the arm for their businesses. No one is talking about sending the troops home now. Now we are talking about getting more troops over seas. George sees a terrorist behind every tree, because it is good for business.

More wars, more money. We can't mind our own business, because terrorism and war is our business.

POST SCRIPT DEATHS IN IRAQ

An American Soldier was killed in a Rocket Propelled Grenade attack in central Baghdad and five soldiers were wounded in Baghdad

A 1st Armored Division Soldier died of his wounds early Monday morning at a Military Field Hospital.