Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

There are stories everywhere about this, and for the record, there is not an apparent official word yet, but 'reportedly' the Bush administration and US government is preparing a plan to use nucular (as prez calls them) weapons against several countries.

Emphasis, this is still in the reported stage, the reality of the situation may simply be that the administration has said something like 'make sure the nuclear program is ready in case we ever need it' or similar and it has been spun into this. Or, it may be accurate?

If this IS accurate, it is a questionable policy. Blowing up the world, or parts, may NOT be the way to win a purported 'war on terrorism' (depending on the goals of said war.) I say purported because even the conflict in Afghanistan is of a questionable nature (IMHO.) I dont fault the President for taking action, he has handled himself quite well during the crises (and he certainly is not the person that facilitated the conflict) and I greatly admire the troops in the field doing a very noble and dangerous job. What I mean is, rationally thinking, what is the goal?

Officials have repeatedly said 'its to kill them or arrest them.' Ok, whom exactly is them? If them is any terrorist organization and our goal is to lessen the potential or realized chances of further terrorist attacks occurring in the US then attacking other nations and or terrorist groups, even those that 'harbor terrorists', even in Afghanistan, may NOT be the way to go.

I dont for a second claim that I have the answers. Certainly the federal authorities involved and the President have greater wisdom and more information than I or any other speculative person have.

However, what if we kill every Al Queda member? What if we kill every Hamas member? What if . . . etc etc. Does anyone rightfully think that will stop or even slow down terrorism? The wars and attacks may create MORE fervor and more appetite for terrorism, more anti American sentiment, etc. The dead terrorists certainly wont kill or cause any more terror, but what about the 10,000 believers in that terrorist that are left behind? We may be making great martyrs, but not necessarilly stopping terrorism? The root cause must be dealt with. Why is America and the rest of the western world so hated? What makes people give up their lives and kill other people in the name of god? Is it money, is it land, is it respect, whatever, it needs more global understanding.

There is no easy answer here but maybe we should at least be contemplating and addressing other means. Such as education, assistance, figuring out the root of problems and genuinely trying to help. Al Queda are not born terrorists. They dont come into the world hating America and yielding bombs. There are reasons and root causes that terrorism occurs. Sometimes the reasons are totally irrational, yes, but if they are dealt with by some type of dialogue and education maybe more lives can be saved, on both sides, than by waging a war from EITHER side.

Many of the causes of terrorism and incredibly complex and maybe not even understood. The problems are not even ours, they dont relate to us. Any campaign to find out more about root causes and help in any way would be tremendously expensive, but what amount of time and energy and resources do we think it will require to fight a global war forever?

In the end, military might and wiping out the hardline terrorists may be the correct action. I am not stating that the current action is wrong. And again, I am not stating that I know the answer to this complicated question I am just stating that I think other possible options should be at LEAST thoroughly explored. The offense defense may work for the short term, but what about the long term world that is left behind?
  America Readies the Nukes: BBC