Of course the United States has been waging one perpetual "war" after another since 1964. Johnson's war on poverty? Poverty is growing.2 Reagan's war on drugs? Drugs are gaining ground. 3 Bush's war on terror? Terror is proliferating.4 So when Trump and Clinton declare yet another war on a social/political/ ideological problem rather than a nation state, a perpetuity of loss is all but guaranteed.
What makes this latest declaration so absurd is that it was made in absence of virtually any pertinent information about the "enemy." It turns out that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was not a practicing jihadist, or even a practicing Muslim, but a violent, mentally ill, drug taking criminal engaged in male prostitution.5, 6 Since there is already a war on drugs, that leaves Trump and Clinton room for a war on violence, mental illness, or whoring.
Sure Bouhlel justified his rage through a last minute salute to ISIS, and ISIS was happy to claim him as one of their own -- never mind that they would have had to "crush him with a wall" for his dalliances with men -- but as president Lincoln once said, "Just because you call a sheep's tail a leg doesn't make it so." 7
The most frightening thing for citizens of an empire after experiencing an act of terror, is the empire's response to that act. Two thousand nine hundred and ninety-six people lost their lives on September eleventh two thousand and one. To date, over a million lives have been lost due to the U.S. response. 8 Trump and Clinton's war rhetoric may serve their present political needs, but at what cost for the rest of humanity?
Sources
1. Clinton, Trump Talk 'War' After Nice Attack: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-07-15/clinton-trump-talk-war-after-nice-attack
2. The Poor Are Getting Poorer: click here 3. Drug overdose deaths in the United States hit record numbers in 2014: http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html 4. Terrorist attacks increased 9 times since 'War on Terror' declaration 14 years ago (interactive map): https://www.rt.com/news/318448-terrorist-attacks-increased-years/ 5. Nice truck attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel showed interest in IS but did not practise Islam: http://www.smh.com.au/world/nice-truck-attacker-mohamed-lahouaiej-bouhlel-showed-interest-in-is-but-did-not-practise-islam-20160718-gq8i5t.html 6. Nice Attack: Has a Bisexual Muslim Hustler Put France on the Path to Civil War?: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/18/nice-attack-has-a-bisexual-muslim-hustler-put-france-on-the-path-to-civil-war.html 7. Sharia sure ain't gay: http://www.answeringislam.org/Authors/Arlandson/homosexual.htm 8. Body Count Report Reveals At Least 1.3 Million Lives Lost to US-Led War on Terror: click here(Article changed on July 22, 2016 at 12:24)
(Article changed on July 22, 2016 at 12:30)
