Some Reflections on Bush’s “War on Terror”

Today's post is a guest contribution by David Jorgenson of Prince George, British Columbia.

Given the current five year anniversary of  9-11 it is perhaps appropriate to offer some reflections on Bush’s “War on Terror”. 

With the current technological compression of time and space, international boundaries are becoming irrelevant.  We are truly living in McLuhan’s “Global Village”, and a consequence of this is all wars have become internal wars; in effect, “civil wars”.  The recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan confirm this hypothesis.  Although the ruling regimes in both countries have been defeated militarily, the level of conflict continues unabated and will do so for the foreseeable future.  Territorial wars have become amorphous and unwinnable.  Consequently the Bush administration has declared a war on terror.

Terror is neither a military force nor a country.  It is a noun.  How do you declare war on a noun?  How do you defeat a noun?  And if you can declare war on a noun why not declare war on other grammatical terms; adjectives, past participles and the like?  Having listened to some of President Bush’s speeches it is clear to me that he is engaged in a personal war against grammar in general.  But I digress. 

If the might of the American nation is successful in its prosecution of a war against this noun, what is to prevent it from launching a pre-emptive strike against any other noun which may present a perceived or potential threat?  Nouns such as beauty, integrity, morality, justice and truth.  Or have these nouns already become victims, collateral damage in Bush’s  “War on Terror”.