The War on Terror to become "The Long War"

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press

Wednesday February 15, 2006 13:59

by Shannon

When will this end?

The US government sent our troops into Iraq siting the posession of "weaponds of mass destruction" as the reason to enter. We've found none. As a result, the government is now telling us that we still needed to be there because it is a country accomodating terrorist organizations. Thousands of US troops and Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of this "war on terror." Now, as I read an article in the Guardian about "The Long War" I cannot help wondering if the fighting will ever end.

As I have indicated in past comments posted on this site, I am very much against my country's involvement in Iraq for a number of reasons. Our excuse for going there has proved to be a lie, and we are still waiting for a plan for bringing our troops home. Imagine my discust at reading the article in The Gardian entitled "The Long War" (I've included a link to the article....hope it works).

Here are a few rather enlightning paragraphs found in the article:

"The message from General Peter Pace, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, was apocalyptic. "We are at a critical time in the history of this great country and find ourselves challenged in ways we did not expect. We face a ruthless enemy intent on destroying our way of life and an uncertain future."

"Gen Pace was endorsing the Pentagon's four-yearly strategy review, presented to Congress last week. The report sets out a plan for prosecuting what the the Pentagon describes in the preface as "The Long War", which replaces the "war on terror". The long war represents more than just a linguistic shift: it reflects the ongoing development of US strategic thinking since the September 11 attacks."

"Looking beyond the Iraq and Afghan battlefields, US commanders envisage a war unlimited in time and space against global Islamist extremism. "The struggle ... may well be fought in dozens of other countries simultaneously and for many years to come," the report says. The emphasis switches from large-scale, conventional military operations, such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq, towards a rapid deployment of highly mobile, often covert, counter-terrorist forces."

"Among specific measures proposed are: an increase in special operations forces by 15%; an extra 3,700 personnel in psychological operations and civil affairs units - an increase of 33%; nearly double the number of unmanned aerial drones; the conversion of submarine-launched Trident nuclear missiles for use in conventional strikes; new close-to-shore, high-speed naval capabilities; special teams trained to detect and render safe nuclear weapons quickly anywhere in the world; and a new long-range bomber force."

"The Pentagon does not pinpoint the countries it sees as future areas of operations but they will stretch beyond the Middle East to the Horn of Africa, north Africa, central and south-east Asia and the northern Caucasus."

It's a little scarry to imagine that the Government of the United States has decided to police the entire world.

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euro anti war news.

by io

Wed Feb 15, 2006 14:40

*Prodi of the Italian socialist alliance has confirmed that if elected he will follow the example of Zapatero in Spain and withdraw the Italian contingent from Iraq. To which Berlusconi has replied that he will be "jesus christ" of Italian politics and resurect his flagging support, its a typical quip of the man so long considered unfit to rule, because of the cartel media position of his media empire, his long records of insults, and his corruption cases. Some readers may see an oblique reference to a recent law suit brought by a 60+ year old atheist against his local parish priest for "faking jesus".
for details on Berlusconi's media empire and links to lots of previous articles on the politician who "sells himself as a popularist right wing product" see
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/72314
Please remember that the "core" of indymedia ireland's collective were present for Genoa 2001 and promote this film-
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=8134 Know where they came from, and what state criminality formed their attitudes. A member of my collective was standing on the steps of the church in the square as carlo was shot. We had just stopped the World Bank meeting in Barcelona 2001. No-one was seriously injured even under Aznar.
__________________________________________

*Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen has suggested calling a referendum in support of his state's comitment to the Iraq war. This of course follows the rôle he and the media in hist country which favour his global vision's in stoking inter-religious hatred, inter-racial hatred, and splitting European resolve to ensuring a lasting peace in the Middle East.
For info on Denmark's comitment to the "coalition of the willing" read
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/70971

Link Correction

Tue Feb 21, 2006 03:42

Apparently, the link I provided in my original post doesn't work. So, here it is again. I've rechecked this one, and should take you to the article found in The Guardian.

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The War on Terror to become "The Long War"

Comments (2 of 2)