The greatest terrorism
In the name of security, the most violence, death and wounded occur under the historical premise that nations can legally begin and continue war.
From the 12/17/06 Christian Science Monitor, by way of CIVIC:
The US Air Force dropped 987 bombs between June and November and fired some 146,000 cannon rounds as air support for NATO allies in the south. US aircraft fired more bombs in the first six months of this year than in the first three years of its campaign against the Taliban, according to figures released by the Pentagon.
President Karzai’s meeting last Tuesday of NATO and US generals, ambassadors, and Afghan ministers in Kandahar - southern Afghanistan’s largest city and a former Taliban stronghold - was an attempt to examine better methods for tackling the insurgency and curbing civilian deaths.
But even as top military officials met, NATO troops posted at a checkpoint in Kandahar shot and killed a local tribal elder who was driving a motorbike. The man had failed to heed warning signals as he drove to the meeting with Karzai.
The Tuesday visit came three days after Karzai wept openly on national television about his helplessness to protect the Afghan people from US, NATO, and Taliban violence.
2,973 people died in or because of the hijackings of three airliners on 9-11. Another 24 remain missing, for a total of 2,997.
2.958 American troops have died in Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9-11. Another 247 troops from coalition countries have died in Iraq, for a total of 3,205. There have been more than 452 coalition casualties in Afghanistan, including 295 Americans.
That’s at least 3,253 American troops and 3,657 coalition casualties in both wars. More than 700 US contractors (or their employees) have died in both conflicts.
So, because Al Qaida killed roughly 3,000 on 9-11, we’ve lost roughly 4,000 lives in two wars and our allies have lost another 466. More than 45,000 Americans and 1.300 coalition members have been wounded, thousands of them serious, crippling injuries.
Millions of people have become refugees. More than 12,000 Afghanis have died. As many as 700,000 Iraqis have died; the most conservative estimates register 51,000 but they admit their numbers are lower than the probable fatalities. Most estimates run from 100,000 to 700,000. And 1,300,000 Iraqis have been wounded.
Why is this justified?
Because of a loose coalition of Al Qaida cells around the globe have attacked in different countries, killing a total of 3,464 people in the past 11 years and 2 months. Other than the 9-11 attacks, they’ve killed less than 500 in all that time. And since 9-11 occurred 5 years ago, they’ve killed just 369 outside of Iraq.
And the other groups we’ve directly fought since, how many terror attack deaths have they caused since 9-11?
Al-Qaeda Org. in the Land of the Two Rivers: 1,647
The Taliban: 815
Islamic State of Iraq: 31
al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades: 18
Ansar al-Islam: 17
Islamic Movement of Iraq Mujahideen: 2
Iraqi Revenge Brigades: 1
Brigades of the Mujahideen in Iraq: 2
Brigades of Imam al-Hassan al-Basri: 2
More than 22,000 of the 25,895 terror deaths globally since 9-11 occurred in the Middle East (17,003) or South Asia (5,081).
How many deaths have ALL terror organizations caused in North America since the 9-11 attacks? 6. In Western Europe? 90.
And that’s supposed to justify the actions of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan that have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, wounded 1.3 million, and created more than 2 million refugees.
Our wars are the greatest and deadliest forms of terrorism. In addition to the deaths and wounded, they have instigated the growth of terror groups acting in response to our aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A strong argument can be made for the deaths we caused of 12,000 Afghanis in response to the 3,000 dead on 9-11. But where’s the justification for Iraq?
The new Democratic head of Afghanistan cries on national television about his inability to stop the violence in his country. The new prime minister of Iraq has proven ineffective in keeping the violence from increasing.
Violence is flourishing. Democracy isn’t.
War has proven again to be the wrong answer. And our president wants $100 billion more and an increase of troops to kill even more. And he’s refusing to negotiate with the leaders who want to unify Iraq.
Our Congress needs to say ‘No’.
Perpetual war in response to terrorism provides no solutions. It increases our enemies. It creates perpetual murder. It bankrupts our treasury, wears out our military and bankrupts us morally.
Our Congress needs to say ‘No’. We need to tell them that. And if Congress fails, it’s up to us to say ‘No’. By all peaceful means necessary.
And let’s skip the nonsense that says a troop withdrawal means we lose the war. We do not lose when our troops leave a foreign country. We lose when they leave our country for the fraudulent aims of deadly old men.