Democracy, Politics and Terrorism - America's Quest for Security in the Age of Insecurity

There is no denying that terrorism has become an important phenomenon in our time and needs to be eradicated. Nothing can justify an act of terrorism, whether it is committed by hate groups, religious or ideological fundamentalists, private militia - or whether it is dressed up as a war of retaliation by a recognized government. However, a major flaw to find a way out of this spiraling morass of terror and brutality has been in our failure to agree to the definition of "terrorism". Thus, while we blame others for their acts of terrorism, we often ignore the fact that our very acts may sometimes trigger such acts. 9/11 has brought the Muslim world against USA and the West on a collision course of "clash of civilizations." Under the pretext of Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), President Bush has replaced the Taliban government in Afghanistan and invaded Iraq, and subsequently hanged Saddam Hussein. However, the GWOT is viewed outside America as a smokescreen for establishing America's hegemony in the Muslim world, and is probably not sustainable on the long term. At home, Americans are rudely awakened by the revelation that the Bush Administration had no problem in creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against Iraq. They ask: how could this happen in this age of information technology? Congressman Dennis Kucinich has introduced a new impeachment resolution (H. Res 1345) that alleges that President Bush falsely told the nation that it had no other choice to go to war because Iraq was an imminent threat in possession of weapons of mass destruction, and that the President had repeatedly implied that Iraq had abetted al Qaeda in its devastating attack of 9/11. What also came out loud and clear through all these experiences in the post-9/11 period is the overarching influence of Israel Lobby, war party and the industrial military complex on American politics. We also learnt that most of the media analysts on war and terrorism have ties to military contractors vested in the very war poli