was the statement at the end of an article in this weeks "Village" magazine (Ireland) about the continuing support for the"war on terror". Do you agree or disagree?
I'd appreciate any answers to be given in a reasonable manner.
2006-09-13 02:23:20 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Government
I live in the US and fear is definately the tool. An effective one. People have no health care to speak of, job wages keep falling, the environment is never mentioned: all we hear is the terror the terrible terrorists are terrorizing us with and that they all want to kill all Americans. There has been a real re-inventing of the idea of terrorism. And it's an unrealistic one to a large degree.
The truth is my chances of dying from lack of health care are about a million times greater than my chances of dying from a terrorist. But about half or more of the US electorate doesn't seem to see this. Those of us with thinking brains are at a complete loss.
2006-09-13 02:34:40 · answer #1 · answered by tarro 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Agree. And it fuels all foreign policy in today's post-9/11 world. But its how we channel that fear to produce a measured response to international terrorism that really matters. Unfortunately sometimes the response has not been measured - even perhaps desperate in response to an invisible enemy - and this has possibly accelerated the problem.
2006-09-13 09:30:56 · answer #2 · answered by McWhirter 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I disagree. I don't think the American people are afraid of another terror attack. I do think they believe Islamic Jihadists should be stopped and/or destroyed. The US ignored them for twenty years and they didn't go away. It's not fear. It's practical sense to say we need to confront this enemy (and they ARE our enemy. They declared war on the US years ago). However, HOW we do that is up for debate.
2006-09-13 09:27:28 · answer #3 · answered by MEL T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. In fact the fear factor is being used by the Liberals more than the conservatives.
Liberals are striking up fear in their constituency by claming that civil rights are being taken away, that terrorism doesn't exist, it's all a conspiracy, on and on and on.
2006-09-13 11:22:25 · answer #4 · answered by Munster 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I agree.
For the people in power, it is the fear of the propoganda lies being found out for the goal of concentration of wealth power in the hands of a few meglomaniacs.
For the citizens, it is the cynical manipulation fear to get them to accept whetever loss of liberties or tax dollars they had - as the saying goes: "a dying man will clutch at straws"...
2006-09-13 09:44:33 · answer #5 · answered by Nothing to say? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely true. The Bush administration always frames their position in terms of absolutes: you're either for the war in Iraq, or you support terrorism. You either agree with Bush, or you're unpatriotic. You don't want stem cell research or you want to murder babies. You believe in god, or you're a comunist. You approve of domestic spying on Americans, or you're committing treason.
All of those positions would get any high-schooler a failing grade in a debate.
2006-09-13 09:35:13 · answer #6 · answered by jesse_o_ellis 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Agree....especially if you caught any of that tv show this week "the path to 9/11". Serious propaganda being used by this administration/regime to manipulate the masses thru media and fear. Are we yellow this week or orange...oh well at least "The Home Depot" benefits from all the duck tape and plastic sheet purchases.....how ridiculous. Another question...what happened to all the weaponized anthrax? It just dissapeared? More fear being created? These are strange times we live in.....
2006-09-13 09:32:34 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
The fear in the White House is more a fear of losing power, wealth and influence, so no change there then.
2006-09-13 09:32:34 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Peddling fear more like. Focusing on a manufactured war diverts attention from colossal policy failures.
2006-09-13 09:54:07 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many fears are born of stupidity and ignorance
Which you should be feeding with rumour and generalisation.
-- BOFH 2002, Episode 10
2006-09-13 09:36:37 · answer #10 · answered by Avatar13 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋