What do we do about terrorism?

A friend was so exasperated with all the news about terrorism threats -- al-Qaeda is stronger today than it was on Sept. 11, 2001, inspite of the "war on terrorism" (I like to call it the "war of errorisms") -- he wondered if it wasn't appropriate to prevent all foreigners from entering the United States.

Why stop there, I responded? Why not just jail everyone with dark skin and black hair, only allow White people who are "very pale," and who have blond hair. Lock the rest of them up. Would that be enough to stop terrorism? Why just terrorism? Why not stop crime, too and lock up everyone based on the national profile of who sits in our jails. (You think they are minorities but the majority of criminals are White.) Well, that explains why most Americans won't support extending the war on terrorism to the war on crime, too. Profiling only works when the targets are "dark people" from "foreign countries. As if we, Americans, are not from foreign countries ourselves.

You think being born here is what makes an American? I don't think so. I think Americans come from a spirit of freedom and the knowledge that freedom makes us safer. That the more freedom we have the more effective our fight against criminals and even terrorists. Can we stop crime or terrorism? No. Not even the Nazis could prevent rebellion and insurgencies and they imposed one of the most vicious and oppressive system on society, outside of Stalin.

There is no correlation between reducing crime and oppressive policies that deny freedoms to certain people based on profiling. Profiling merely makes us feel more comfortable with our failed war on terrorism and forgotten war on drugs, street gangs, crime and even homelessness and hunger. If we can profile, we have "someone" in custody or in our sights. That makes us feel good. And isn't that what the new American order is all about? Feeling comfortable in an environment of insanity?

No. The real answer to fighting terrorism is not to lock people up based on how they look, their "profiles." The real answer to fighting and defeating the terrorists is to be smart, professional and strategic. That means we make more friends in the world, not more enemies. We don't just target anyone, because innocent people become enemies when you treat them like enemies.

My only suggestion to start winning the war on terrorism is to do the one thing we must do in order to turn all this around. Impeach President Bush. File international war crimes charges against Vice President Dick Cheney. Put them in jail. If we're going to profile, let's arrest every politician in order to end government corruption. Because right no, we are not winning the war on terrorism. We are losing the war on terrorism and the reason we are losing is that we do not have a leader ho knows how to fight this ar the right way, the successful way, the intelligent way. Bush only survives in all this because he knows how to exploit our emotions.

"If we leave now the terrorists will win ... " Blah, blah, blah. He has no answers. He has no solutions. All he has is our fear, and his success is our fear.

-- Ray Hanania