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08.20 Are You Ready For Nuclear War?

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08.14 Is Perpetual War Our Future?

08.12 5 Years After Blackout, Power Grid Still in 'Dire Straits'

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08.07 The Hamdan Principle and You

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08.05 Mining Racism and Murder in a Northeastern Pennsylvania Coal Town

08.04 The Other Presidential Candidates

08.03 McCain, Anthrax & the Afghan Blunder

08.01 Justice Probe Still Threatens Gonzales

07.31 Obama's Surge in Berlin

07.30 War Without End, Amen: Into the Afghan Abyss with Obama

07.30 McCain's Spin on the 'Surge'

07.30 Friday's House Judiciary Hearing on Impeachment: A Victory and a Challenge

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08.20 Musharraf, Not Bush, Follows Nixon

08.18 Fear, Procurement, Profit: Permanent War and the American Way

08.17 This Time, the World Is Not Buying It

08.15 'Imminent' Threats Should Be a Belli Laugh

08.08 American Insouciance

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08.05 Follow This Dime

07.31 Wave of 'Capitol Crime' Continues

07.29 Bodyguard of Lies: The Truth Behind the 'Surge's' Smokescreen

07.28 Secret "Torture Memo" Gave Legal Cover to Interrogators Who Acted in "Good Faith"

07.28 The Bush Administration's Secret Biowarfare Agenda

07.26 The Endless Smearing of Joe Wilson

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08.04 Thinking About Ponzi

International

08.18 Blockades: Acts of War

08.17 Rice’s Recipe for Duck Soup

08.14 The Lawless Roads: Bluster in Georgia, Rank Tyranny at Home

08.14 Marching Through Georgia V: U.S. Forces Moving Into Putin's Powderkeg

08.14 Marching Through Georgia IV: The Butt Thumper and the Bear

08.13 Using Georgia to Target Russia

08.12 From Stupid to Moronic to Evil

08.11 Marching Through Georgia III: Reality's Rout and Cheney's Viagra

08.11 Marching Through Georgia II: The Kremlin Surge

08.08 Marching Through Georgia I: Cold War II Proxy Conflict Turns Hot

08.07 Living Death: The Eternal Now of Hiroshima

08.07 War with Iran - On, Off or Undecided?

08.04 Gaza Under Siege

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It's Not War

OPINION:

It's Not War

by SHELDON RICHMAN

But if one views American life more broadly, one sees a dramatic disconnect with Bush's words and assertions of power. America doesn't feel like it's under siege. "Everything" hasn't changed since 9/11.

Last weekend I watched my daughter Emily perform in a play about women who replaced men in factory jobs during World War II. The theme of "American Rosies" is that the war was such a dominant fact of life that these women were determined to participate. Going to work making military equipment was their best opportunity. The characters spoke of the disruption of normal life, typified by separation from their husbands and the rationing of food, gasoline, and other consumer goods. The war was topic No. 1, and everything else took a back seat.

This got me wondering why things are so different today. We are said to be not just in a war, but At War. President Bush tells us that in the "war on terror" our very civilization is at stake. "The war on terror is more than a military conflict— it is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. And we're only in its opening stages," Bush said in his September 7 speech in Atlanta.

"Decisive ideological conflict"? That means a showdown in which only one side will be standing at the end. Indeed, some Bush supporters have dubbed the conflict World War III. The contrived term "Islamofascism" is designed to reinforce this view.

The president has tried hard to sell this theme since 9/11. Consistent with this, he calls himself a "war president" and has claimed extraordinary powers, such as the power to declare anyone an "unlawful enemy combatant," hold such a person indefinitely, torture him, and suspend habeas corpus for noncitizens. Judging by all this, one might certainly think that for the foreseeable future American society is in a fight for its life.

But if one views American life more broadly, one sees a dramatic disconnect with Bush's words and assertions of power. America doesn't feel like it's under siege. "Everything" hasn't changed since 9/11. When he's not stoking the war rhetoric, Bush -- inconsistently -- is telling us to go about our normal lives. And that is quite easy to do. We are issued no ration tickets. There is no military draft. And no special wartime restrictions hamper our movement or other activities. For now at least, we can speak our minds even in dissent.

So are we At War or not? The answer is no, certainly not in the way Bush means it. Other commentators have noticed the disconnect, but most of them have gone on to urge Bush to demand sacrifices from the American people, such as higher taxes. Some even call for a draft, which would end all pretense that we live in a free society.

The apocalyptic War is a fiction. What danger exists grows out of resentment against years of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, not a desire to destroy American society.

In contrast, I think the disconnect demonstrates that the apocalyptic War is a fiction. What danger exists grows out of resentment against years of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, not a desire to destroy American society. A noninterventionist foreign policy could reduce that danger. But the rulers won't abandon interventionism. Too many political and economic interests are at stake.

Bush must know that what he says about the conflict is not true. There is no other way to explain why he has not asked for "sacrifices." He realizes that if he imposes sacrifices, the fragile support for his "war on terror" will evaporate. He once enjoyed support for his war in Iraq, but that vanished as mounting casualties and increasing violence produced a sense of quagmire.

What we call terrorism is not war, but criminal action. It becomes war only if we make it so.

America is not under siege. There is no threat to its integrity as a society. No barbarians stand at the gates ready to overrun and subjugate us. What we call terrorism is not war, but criminal action. It becomes war only if we make it so. But war exacts a terrible cost on the country that prosecutes it. If you need proof, see the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation (fff.org) and editor of The Freeman magazine.

Copyright © 2006 The Baltimore Chronicle. All rights reserved.

Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

This story was published on October 10, 2006.

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