Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Asian nation to do more to defeat a global terrorist threat. One of the most remarkable statements he made at the annual Shangri-la conference on international security in Singapore was that enough isn’t being done to address the causes of terrorism. Gates couldn’t say whether the cause of terrorism was despotism or poverty. “The danger [of terrorism] remains very great,” he said.
If we take a closer look at Gates’ arguments, we’ll find some of the roots of terrorism. One of them is using such a term to picture the enemy. Governments that call their enemies terrorists do so because it gives them immense power and flexibility to undermine civil rights.
In the face of many other suggestions I could make to “nip terrorism in the bud,” undoubtedly the most effective one is doing away with George W. Bush’s administration. That administration is so inept in its “war on terror” that it’s the US that looks more like the “terrorist” than the “terrorists” themselves.