Bungling the War on Terror

I am given to understand that the USG is engaged in a “War on Terror”. Fortunately, I have rarely in my life been terrified, but each occasion is burnt into my memory, and I would like to avoid the sensation of terror as much as possible. Now and again, I like to take in a scary movie or go on a frightening amusement park ride, but that kind of terror is controlled and I know that I am not really in any danger. I suppose that the War on Terror might be a pretty good service for the USG to provide if it was capable of doing it properly.

In fact, the USG seems to me to be increasing Terror in human minds. Instead of consoling us with the truth that acts of terrorism are rare and that the risk is miniscule, the USG seems to want to give everyone the impression that there are bombers and terrorist cells around every corner. We are at an elevated “alert level” all the time and kept in a state of anxiety, if not actual terror. The USG has over a hundred thousand troops killing people in Iraq and threatening Iranians and Syrians with attack. If anything, I am much more anxious and frightened since the War on Terror started than I ever was even when all those Soviet missiles were aimed at me.

A proper War on Terror would ultimately become a War on Fear, then a War on Anxiety, and finally a War on Concern. That would be progress. Increasing Fear and Anxiety doesn’t help reduce Terror. Perhaps the idea is to desensitize us so that when something really terrifying happens it’s just part of the routine. An analogy might be if the government fought the War on Poverty by decreasing wealth. The poor would be no better off, but their poverty would not contrast so much with the wealth of others. Imagine if the War on Drugs was fought by encouraging alcohol abuse. There would still be drug addicts, but it wouldn’t seem like such a big deal what with all the drunkards.