{"id":118405,"date":"2018-09-17T12:01:43","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T11:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=118405"},"modified":"2018-09-11T16:54:29","modified_gmt":"2018-09-11T15:54:29","slug":"the-global-war-on-terror-another-predictable-fiasco-turns-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/09\/the-global-war-on-terror-another-predictable-fiasco-turns-17\/","title":{"rendered":"The Global War on Terror \u2013 Another Predictable Fiasco Turns 17"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/911-images-oberg.jpeg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-118410\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/911-images-oberg.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/911-images-oberg.jpeg 701w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/911-images-oberg-300x151.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>11 Sep 2018 &#8211; <\/em>Today marks the 17th anniversary of what could be called the most counter-productive, if not stupid, war in modern history: The Global War On Terror, GWOT.<\/p>\n<p>Today <em>that<\/em> war is much much more dangerous to the world and its future than the terrorists it allegedly aims to hunt down. And it has caused thousands of times more suffering, death and destruction than September 11 did.<\/p>\n<p>As you\u2019ll see below \u2013 the image above and below \u2013 the U.S. has been able to market itself as the innocent victim \u2013 which it isn\u2019t. While countries and peoples who have been innocent victims and to a much larger extent do not have similar resources and control over the media narratives told worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve heard a lot about \u201c9\/11\u201d and that is only right, it was a terrible crime.<\/p>\n<p>But why don\u2019t you remember, equally well at least, \u201c10\/7\u201d (US-led war on Afghanistan 2001) or \u201c3\/20\u201d (US-led war on Iraq 2003) or \u201c3\/19\u201d (NATO-led war on Libya 2011) or 4\/7 (US bombing of Syria 2017 with military involvement beginning already 2011)?<\/p>\n<p>Right! \u2013 these wars were not <em>branded<\/em> to create sympathy for victims. On the contrary.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The war on terror was wrong from Day One. It\u2019s not a war on terror<em>ism<\/em> but on terror<em>ists<\/em> which is as smart as trying to fight all diseases by killing all patients.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s a war fought without any consideration of the one big question: Why did they do it and why do they do it? Media and politics only asking: Who did it? How was it done? Where? How to respond? Never the <em>Why<\/em> question? Because that question would raise to issues: Could they have a point?\u00a0 (not defending their methods but understanding their motivations) and did we ourselves do anything to provoke such feeling in other peoples and religions?<\/p>\n<p>Without an intelligent, comprehensive <em>diagnosis<\/em> of 9\/11, it could only go wrong. And it has. And it will.<\/p>\n<p>The next problem was that \u2018terrorism\u2019 was suddenly defined by states as anything non-state that threatens society and states. Governments and the UN (which consists of them) conveniently omitted terrorism as a term for what <em>states<\/em> do and have done on a regular basis and on a much larger scale. Such as the nuclear balance of <em>terror<\/em>, a term that was deliberately taken out of the political vocabulary because it indicated and important truth: that states practice terror.<\/p>\n<p>About 400 people were killed annually and worldwide before 9\/11 according to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Patterns_of_Global_Terrorism\" >US State Department statistics<\/a> \u2013 which, by the way, was discontinued stopped in 2004 when figures soared after the War On Terror gained momentum.<\/p>\n<p>However, according to the 2015 Global Terror Index \u2013 the number is now 32,000 \u2013 and the far majority killed outside the West. So, the problem has increased exactly 80 times(!)<\/p>\n<p>And the Western leaders who continue this war have no idea about how to stop it or do something more productive and intelligent. Primitive tit-for-tat and disproportional responses has substituted what was once called statesmanship.<\/p>\n<p>And it <em>was<\/em> predictable that such an almost anti-intellectual approach would be a fiasco!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many both inside and outside the U.S. came up with different diagnoses, prognoses and proposals for responses to the cruel attacks on Washington and New York. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.transnational.org\/2014\/09\/september-11-the-war-on-terror-is-a-predictable-fiasco\/\" >So did TFF Associates<\/a>. Below you\u2019ll find just a selection of articles in English (we also wrote in Scandinavian languages and spoke in radio and television interviews) \u2013 posted within the first three months after 9\/11 and then later).<\/p>\n<p>We make them available for those who care about the world, about terrorism and for those who also have the <em>moral<\/em> courage to ask: How come that small independent organisations often predict the future much better than huge \u201cintelligence\u201d agencies, state research institutes and private so-called think tanks with multi-billion dollar budgets?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is found in the question: <em>independence, free exploration and free thinking<\/em>. The opposite of the group think and political correctness that characterise most state- and corporate-financed research.<\/p>\n<p>And why did \u2013 and do \u2013 media listen to those who advocated a violent response and to the masters of successive wars on Afghanistan or \u201c10\/7\u2033, on Iraq or \u201c3\/20\u2033 and on Libya and Syria \u2013 and drone warfare?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Further, why did virtually none of the larger media listen to any of those of us who argued in favour of a political self-reflection and a response to 9\/11 in accordance with international law, ethics and the common good worldwide?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And why are all the leaders of the global War On Terror that has brought unspeakable suffering to the world and killed so many innocent people still at large?<\/p>\n<p><strong>An image illustration<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Finally an illustration of the 9\/11 propaganda machine that \u2013 mistakenly \u2013 is supposed to be helpful to the West:<\/p>\n<p>The picture on top of this article is what you get by using a search engine for \u201cSeptember 11 \u2013 images\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Below is what you get when you search \u201cOctober 7 \u2013 images\u201d \u2013 the day the US started the war on Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, you are supposed to remember one and forget the other \u2013 and so too the wars on and destruction of Iraq, Libya and Syria. No sympathy for the victims there \u2013 of <em>our<\/em> wars \u2013 and no empathy with the asylum seekers and the refugees from these regions.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Oct7-images-oberg.jpeg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-118406\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Oct7-images-oberg.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"364\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Oct7-images-oberg.jpeg 701w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Oct7-images-oberg-300x156.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here is the selection of relevant TFF articles over the years:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Rocio Campos, September 12, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2001\/Rocio_WTC.html\" >Wisdom needed to avoid a bigger war<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Power, September 12, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/Columns_Power\/2011\/35.LearnSept11.html\" >For the arrogance of power America now pays a terrible price<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Daisaku Ikeda, TFF associate, September 16 &amp; 17, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2001\/Ikeda_SeptemberTerror.html\" >Initial perspectives on the terror \u2013 a plea for nonviolence<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peter Jarman, September 17, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2001\/Jarman_TerrorComment.html\" >The terrorist attacks in the USA. A personal view<\/a><\/p>\n<p>David Krieger, September 20, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2001\/Krieger_TerrorAttack.html\" >Reflections on the terrorist attacks<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Power, September 20, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/power\/2001\/09.03_SaySorry.html\" >Is it possible for America to say \u2018Sorry\u2019?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jan Oberg &amp; Jorgen Johansen, September 25, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/pressinf\/2001\/pf129_Construct_11sepA.html\" >Constructive thoughts two weeks after September 11<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Richard Falk, September 27, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/pressinf\/2001\/pf132_Falk_JustResp.html\" >A just response<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Power, September 30, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/power\/2001\/09.04_NoCounterTerror.html\" >Terrorism cannot be defeated by terrorism<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Chaiwat Satha-Anand, October 1, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2001\/Satha_UnderstandTerrorl.html\" >Understanding terror and making the right choice<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Radmila Nakarada with Miroslav Pejulic, October 1, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2001\/Nakarada_GlobalTerrorism.html\" >The tragedy of a tragedy \u2013 global terrorism and repressive globalisation<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Power, October 3, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/power\/2001\/10.01_LessMilitarism.html\" >A sensible, less militaristic, way is possible<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jan Oberg, October 9, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/pressinf\/2001\/pf134_Sweden%26Sept11.html\" >Sweden and September 11<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Daisaku Ikeda, 18 November, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2001\/Ikeda_SpirResponse.html\" >A spiritual response to September 11<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Evelin Lindner, December 12, 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2001\/Evelin_LessonsHumil.html\" >The lessons of humiliation<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Johan Galtung, 19 February, 2002 but written during autumn 2001<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2002\/JG_Sept11.html\" >September 11: Diagnosis, Prognosis and Therapy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Johan Galtung and Dietrich Fischer, September 6, 2002<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/pressinf\/2002\/pf158_EndStateTerrorism.html\" >To end terrorism, end state terrorism<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Johan Galtung, June 18, 2002<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2002\/Galtung_11SeptandAftermath.html\" >September 11 \u2013 October 7, 2001 and its aftermath: Three discourses<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jan Oberg, May 3, 2002<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.transnational.org\/SAJT\/pressinf\/2002\/pf151_Afghan3minPeace.html\" >Three minutes silence for the dead in Afghanistan and three other peacemaking suggestions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Christian Harleman &amp; Jan Oberg, June 7, 2002<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.transnational.org\/SAJT\/pressinf\/2002\/pf152_IraqUSwar.html\" >A U.S. war against Iraq must be prevented now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jan Oberg, April 2, 2003<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/pressinf\/2003\/pf180_LoseWarIraq.html\" >Losing all three wars on Iraq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jan Oberg, September 11, 2003<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.transnational.org\/SAJT\/pressinf\/2003\/pf186_11ThingsOnSept11.html\" >11 things to remember on September 11<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jan Oberg, September 10, 2006<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/SAJT\/forum\/meet\/2006\/Oberg_Sept11_Five_1.html\" >September 11 Five Years: 9 problems, 11 solutions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jan Oberg, February 26, 2015<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.transnational.org\/2015\/02\/tff-pressinfo-310-terrorism-small-dot-in-a-larger-picture\/\" >Terrorism \u2013 small dot in the larger picture<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>TFF&#8217;s Associates publish about 200 analytical articles per year, so literally thousands since September 12, 2001 \u2013 on 9\/11 itself and the War On Terror, on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, drone wars etc. \u2013 all available at our two sites \u2013 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsite.transnational.org\/\" >TFF\u2019s Old homepage<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.transnational.org\" >TFF\u2019s former until 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We continue addressing these issue here at <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/transnational.live\" >The Transnational<\/a>, our homepage-magazine that was launched on January 1, 2018.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Global War On Terror is self-defeating for the West<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One \u2013 increasingly important \u2013 result of this war is the systematic <em>undermining<\/em> of democracy, human rights, freedom of expression etc. in the Western world \u2013 as well as an <em>increase<\/em> in all types of surveillance, monitoring and intrusions into our private lives and misuse of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/janoberg.me\/2016\/07\/08\/fearology-and-militarism-but-the-real-enemy-is-us\/\" >fearology<\/a> as a main tool against one\u2019s own population.<\/p>\n<p>Scared people stop participating in their society and their democracy and turn to info-tainment and escapism.<\/p>\n<p>Western taxpayers have financed this war now for 17 years. The only thing they got is a much dangerous and unfree world.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it is time to do a mass boycott of tax money that goes to war in your country? And let those who want to continue the War on Terror do so on the basis of voluntary contributions via crowd-funding?<\/p>\n<p>In the long run, the War On Terror is likely to be more self- than other-defeating.<\/p>\n<p>We are living in what Chris Hedges has recently called <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.4thmedia.org\/2016\/09\/america-the-illiterate-it-cannot-differentiate-between-lies-and-truth\/\" >the new illiteracy, the post-literate society<\/a> in which large segments of citizen can no longer distinguish between lies and truth. It won\u2019t make it easier to stop the madness of the War On Terror \u2013 or the Western build-up to war with Russia for that matter \u2013 which both <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/is-war-with-russia-possible\/#utm_sguid=155260,c8804121-a696-cdc8-1cf0-9e2cd2c16dd4\" >Stephen Cohen<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/the-united-states-and-nato-are-preparing-for-a-major-war-with-russia\/\" >Michael Klare<\/a> and even former MI-6 agent, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/alastair-crooke\/putin-west-war_b_9991162.html?ir=World?\" >Alistair Crooke<\/a> believe the world could be heading for thanks predominantly to the over-militarization of NATO countries and their hubris policies.<\/p>\n<p>And why do I mention the new Cold War here at the end?<\/p>\n<p>Because there is a connection. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, president Carter\u2019s national security adviser Zbiegniew Brzezinski, got the great idea that the US should supply Stringer missiles to jihadists there and thus help them fight the Russians. So there is a connection at the beginning and today: the ongoing support by the West to <em>some<\/em> terrorist groups either directly or via allies such as Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Turkey.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>To put it crudely:\u00a0 that\u2019s what Syria is also about and that is why there is only one Western mainstream narrative about that conflict and why that narrative has very very little to do with the much more complex reality. The West de facto supports terrorists \u2013 with propaganda, regime change policies, arms and ammunition, training etc. \u2013 under the narrative of fighting them.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One must therefore wonder how much of the War On Terror is actually a war on \u201cour own\u201d and what purpose, if any, that could possibly serve.<\/p>\n<p>One of course would be to always conveniently have at hand a pretext for new bombings, occupations, secret forces and regime changes somewhere \u2013 in short a<em> terrorism perpetuum mobile<\/em> feeding on itself.<\/p>\n<p>At least, that is, until the US Empire has vanished, NATO been closed down and the West accommodated to being a partner among equals in a future, more balanced and peaceful multi-polar world order.<\/p>\n<p>May that day come sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What about 3 minutes of silence for the victims of the Global War On Terror?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In short, the policies <em>in the wake of<\/em> 9\/11 is the problem that we should address.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time we wake up and see through 9\/11, see through the fearological bluff it has been misused to create. The \u201cre-action\u201d to 9\/11 is mega-terrorism and more harmful to the world \u2013 all of us \u2013 than whatever happened on 9\/11 and whoever did it.<\/p>\n<p>The event on 9\/11 caused many to observe 3 minutes of silence. How many hours would we need in remembrance of the people killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria and other places for, literally, not one good reason?<\/p>\n<p><em>__________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/janoberg-e1534696423270.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-60215\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/janoberg-e1534696423270.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"79\" \/><\/a><\/em><em>TFF Director Prof. Jan Oberg is a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/\" >TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/transnational.live\/2018\/09\/11\/the-global-war-on-terror-another-predictable-fiasco\/\" >Go to Original \u2013 transnational.live<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>11 Sep 2018 &#8211; Today marks the 17th anniversary of what could be called the most counter-productive, if not stupid, war in modern history: The Global War On Terror, GWOT. Today, THAT war is much much more dangerous to the world and its future than the terrorists it allegedly aims to hunt down. And it has caused thousands of times more suffering, death and destruction than September 11 did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":60215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}