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Guy YedwabMr. NeblettWorld Since 1945At War With The MysticsAmericans, like the citizens of the British Empire before them, are in the unique position of controlling the destiny of most of the countries on the planet. And like theBrits toward the end of their rule, the question has begun to crop up more often: “Why dothey hate us?” Of course, the ‘they’ to which the question refers is not a single group, andtherefore there is no single answer. On September 11
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, however, one group of Anti-Americans made themselves far more important in the American mindset than any other group. France may enjoy US-bashing, and Hugo Chavez may call America the ‘terroristnation,’ but it is Islamic radicals typified by Al Qaeda that the United States is mostconcerned with. Aside from Americans themselves, Al Qaeda is the first group to perpetrate an attack on American soil since the Japanese in World War Two. Today, our  president George W. Bush has declared a War on Terror—and this, he says, is the solutionto the problem of Islamic radical attacks on America. To this end, he has invadedAfghanistan to depose the Taliban regime, and invaded Iraq to depose the Hussein regime(so that Hussein would not supply Islamic radicals with WMD, allegedly). However, thisapproach to dealing with Islamic fundamentalism is thoroughly misguided both in theshort run, and in the long run. In the short run, the ‘threat’ of Islamic radicalism must beconfronted through defensive measures, and in the long run, Islamic radicalism must becountered by systemic changes which attack the roots of Islamic radicalism. Like both the
 
War on Drugs and the War on Poverty, the War on Terror will fail if it is implemented in ashort-sighted, confrontationalist fashion.The short-term solution which President Bush has presented to the American people is war, but the two wars to which the United States has committed have had mixedresults. The invasion of Afghanistan, largely supported by most of the world, cameimmediately after September 11
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. The rationale was simple: Afghanistan was a haven for Islamic radical terrorist training camps. The Taliban, by sanctioning these terror groups,were aiding and abetting the enemy, and thus had to be removed. After a short, relatively painless operation, the Taliban had been deposed, and Al Qaeda as an organization became largely defunct. In most of the ways which Secretary of State Colin Powelldefined ‘success’ during the lead-up to the war, the United States has succeeded. Thedemocracy which was installed, though initially plagued by assassinations, eventually became stable enough to begin the complicated task of self-regulation. Afghanistan wasan example of a fruitful use of force to combat Islamic radicalism. Although somemilitary operations were botched, causing Afghani citizens to cry out against theAmerican military, Afghanistan was mostly improved by the invasion. However, thefailure to root Taliban and Al Qaeda forces out of the Tora Bora caves on the border of Pakistan is indicative of the difficulties of confronting guerillas with direct force. Theoperation began in late 2001/early 2002, and as of this writing (5/27/06), the Taliban havestill been able to clash with American forces. Luckily, this insurgency is not too severe of a strain of American forces. However, Afghanistan is not a typical example of thedifficulty of regime change to fight terrorism. The Taliban regime was largely unpopular 
 
at home, and the Islamic radicals were already a largely diffuse group centered outside of Afghanistan in sleeper cells. The next war, in Iraq, provides a much more stark exampleof American use of force to combat ‘terrorism.’ Bush, who has often said that we arefighting terrorists in Iraq so we don’t have to fight them at home, overlooks the explosivegrowth of terrorism and insurgency in Iraq since Hussein was deposed. In Iraq, Americadeposed a secular dictator, freeing Islamic tensions between Shiites and Sunnis tomanifest violently. While it is most likely true that most of the terrorists in Iraq will notcome to the United States to pursue acts of terror, it is still important to note thatAmericans and innocent Iraqis are being slaughtered in ever-higher numbers, with no endin sight. Because of the diffuse nature of fighting guerilla warfare and terrorism, the USArmy has been unable to ‘defeat’ the insurgency and terrorists in Iraq, and therefore wehave merely overstretched our already weak military. This can only make us moresusceptible to attack on our own homefront.Rather than focus on direct military conflict, the United States needs to focus onits own security. Despite the attention paid to airline security, reports have said that 40%of all bombs and weapons passed through airport security in 2005 during tests byHomeland Security. Despite the talk about Air Marshalls, most domestic and internationalflights through the United States do not carry them. Meanwhile, other areas of defenseare equally overlooked. In 2005, over half of the Coast Guard’s boats were either temporarily or permanently grounded due to various servicing problems. HomelandSecurity constantly complains of underfunding. If the United States cannotcomprehensively protect its borders, it will be attacked again. This does not mean,
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