There Is No War Against Terror:
George W. Bush surrendered on 11 Sep 2001

On September 11, 2001, while the people of his nation were under criminal assault and in harms way, George W. Bush ran away to hide in a bunker. A small band of criminals had chased the leader of the United States underground. A huge victory in their eyes and a great loss that the United States has yet to realize. This one act of hiding himself away from a small group of criminals gave them more encouragement than one person can explain and it discouraged the people of his nation to points of serious harm.

Twelve hours after the criminal assault on his nation, after Washington D.C. was heavily armed and fortified, when Bush finally reported to his duty station, the "war on terror" had already been conceded by Bush's move to save himself instead of lead his nation and command his armed forces. Those words, even then, were a myth used to cover personal agendas and to lever up fear for political gain. But more, when Bush proclaimed a "war on terror", he promoted common criminals to the status of enemy combatant, granted legitimacy to their behavior, expanded their cause and enhanced their call to jihad.

What the leadership of the United States is calling a war on terror is a facade to malfeasance, an excuse for ulterior motives, and rhetoric to obfuscate failure. Bush cries war, bin Laden cries jihad, and a misled world struggles to find itself. The Bush bin Laden tag team has done well by abusing that world. Bush advocating that decisions be based on the fear that he instills and bin Laden making use of every move that Bush makes. Bush sending troops into the Middle East to fight a fictitious war and bin Laden pointing to those troops and calling for jihad. Bush linking the word Islam with words like fascism extremism and radicalism. Bin Laden using Bush's words as evidence that the west is fomenting a war on Islam. Bush telling people they are vulnerable but withholding information that would allow them to examine that vulnerability and assess their risk and take appropriate actions. Bin Laden easily recruiting jihadis at all levels, for all types of operations, burgeoning ranks and both men dividing the earth along Christian and Muslim lines by citing each other. Al Qaeda has never known such popularity as it has now and they are still learning how to use the new strength and legitimacy granted to them. No president has ever before been able to concentrate so much power in the oval office, or spend so much of the peoples wealth without accounting, or violate so many laws with impunity.

Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces:

Two values are sought when terror is applied, confusion and fear. Confusion and fear are the levers a terror strategist can use to manipulate a target population. George W. Bush yielded both immediately and led his nation to do the same. A recent example of how Bush levers up fear is in this quote: "This nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom; to hurt our nation." Generalized statements like this instill nebulous fear and deprive people of specific information that could be used to examine vulnerability and to assess risk and then to minimize that risk appropriately. Generalized statements devoid of specific information not only instill fear but leave people confused about what they can do; exactly in line with the goals of terrorism. The goal of terror is the modification of behavior and it works by injecting fear into the decision making process and leaving people confused. America has vastly modified its behavior. Citing terror as its decision base, America has bound itself to the terrorists.

Upon hearing that his nation was under terrorist attack, the immediate response of the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces was to sit, unmoved and perhaps dumbfounded, for seven minutes. Then he ran for cover. While the people of his nation were under criminal assault, the president ran away to hide. Unable to decide at first; when he did make a decision, it was based upon fear. By this behavior, he did much worse than become the butt of jokes exchanged between terrorists. He displayed more confidence in terrorists than in himself and his country, he gave resounding encouragement to a band of criminals by giving them sway, he gave more power to them than to his own police and military forces and, by that behavior, immediately ceded victory to them. By that behavior, he set the example that citizens would follow. They too would let terror have sway, they too would base decisions upon fear, they too would avoid going to their own capitol and to New York City. The most powerful nation on earth had been cowered. Usama bin Laden has had no need to launch another assault. All he has to do is transmit an ominous email or plant disinformation by easy means to inflict great cost upon America. Without spending a drop of al Qaeda blood, he can cause his enemy to spend millions and billions of dollars and hundreds or thousands of person hours in futile response. And laugh. Complicit with bin Laden is George W. Bush. With each al Qaeda effort to foment fear within the United States comes Bush to enhance that fear and leverage it for greater power and lesser accountability. Al Gore has ably enumerated and clarified those power grabs and methods here. He also exposes just how far away from democracy America has been pushed by the Bush al Qaeda team. The Center for Constitutional Rights presents four articles of impeachment and Michael Ratner explains and proclaims the call to impeach President Bush. Lewis Lapham joins that chorus with an explanation of motive for his essay arguing for the impeachment of George W. Bush. Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe explains the extent to which this administration has gone to challenge laws and the methods by which Bush ignores laws that get in his way and avoids accountability.

Speaking at the Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, the president acknowledged what appeared to be a terrorist attack on America. He promised to investigate, then disappeared. While the people of his nation were in harms way, suffering the attack and the aftermath and the shock and bewilderment, the President of the United States flew to an undisclosed, heavily secured, hardened bunker and went to ground (Barksdale). Speaking there, he promised to hunt down and punish the people who attacked America and he called them cowards. (a diversion from his own actions) He assured the American people that all appropriate security precautions have been taken to protect them. (assurance given at a moment when people were already dead and dying, assurance absent of explanation, absent of guidance, absent of leadership, and completely devoid of responsibility) At this point, as viewed by the terrorists, with one swift assault committed by nineteen operatives, planned and executed on the cheap, they were able to take down the leader of a powerful nation. The Commander in Chief of the world's most powerful police and military forces had been driven into hiding by a small band of criminals. For hours to come, critical decisions would be made by subordinates and by middle to low echelon agency personnel, many of whom had also run helter skelter for cover. George W. Bush made no attempt to provide leadership for the people of the United States.

Not feeling safe enough there, the president flew to another undisclosed, heavily secured, hardened bunker and went to ground again (Offutt). Later, and long hours after the attack, after making certain that every possible security measure was in place, after the Capitol was heavily armed and fortified, after all aircraft were on the ground except for an airborne shield of military aircraft, after threat was thought to be low, the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, reported to his duty station.

Nearly twelve hours after the attack on America, the President spoke to the world. He called the attackers evil and their behavior despicable. (but said nothing about his own) He said they attacked the United States because it is the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. (an unsupported statement made in the absence of knowledge) He promised to search them out and bring them to justice. (he and many in his administration had long known who they were and where they were) He promised to help those who have been injured, (now that they are injured) and to take every precaution to protect American citizens at home and around the world from further attacks. (now that they have suffered harm) He assured all that America's military is strong and prepared. (but did not explain for what) This mention of military force gives key insight to Bush's thinking at that moment. Sadly, it was his second, devastating error of the day. [America had been assaulted by a small group of criminals, killers not different from other criminals, who were now being promoted to the rank of enemy combatant. In running away to hide, George W. Bush had already ceded superior power to common killers. He had already based even his first decisions upon fear. Now, he was promoting criminals to a high rank and granting them legitimacy. That cleared the way for al Qaeda to state their cause, restate and modify it as needed to attract and influence recruits or to build and broaden support for its cause.] The president made no attempt to explain the success of the attack and took no responsibility. Instead, he simply declared that the terrorists had failed to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat (even though his own behavior speaks differently) and he declared that America is strong. (a futile poker face to cover weakness and defeat) He called for America to go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world but took no step himself. (setting up: us good they evil as another means to deflect responsibility) He gave no guidance, no example, no insight to the terms of terror or how to overcome the criminals who use it or what it would cost or what exactly is at stake or how to defend it. He made no attempt to lead or to provide leadership. He did not extend comfort to the survivors or families of the fallen. He asked them to get that from God instead.

The consequence of that leadership:

The people of the United States followed their leader. They went to ground. The industry of the United States also went to ground. They waited for security measures to be put in place and time to pass without another attack. Even then, what motion did occur went from a perceived to be secure location to perceived as secure location by means that were deemed relatively safe and secure. Existing travel plans were canceled. Trips to the Capitol and to the financial capital of the world were called off. Flights, hotels, car rentals, tours, et al that would have been booked were not. Travel businesses were forced to close. Industries that serve the travel industry were diminished and many of those businesses were forced to close. The immediate impact in the United States was the loss of nearly a quarter million jobs. Worldwide, within a year, 2.6 million jobs were lost by the travel industry alone, trillions of dollars of wealth were lost, and the WDP was down by about eleven percent. The absence of leadership and the decisions made in fear and the decisions made for personal motives, within three years, have cost the world almost half a trillion dollars and over a hundred thousand lives. Ethics, morals, and laws have all been diminsished. Relationships among nations are strained and the possible concerted effort by those nations to bring the perpetrating criminals to justice is now impotent. The criminals have been given the high ground and more power than they can manage. Years later, a great scar remains and al Qaeda is still in charge.

The terrorists struck successfully. They watched the dumbfounded leader of their target population and a large part of his administration abandon their places of duty and run helter skelter for cover. They saw no one stand up to take responsibility and take charge. They watched the leadership in America and its citizens continuously making decisions based upon fear of them. They watched the target population follow their leader and go to ground. They watched the impact of their attack change the lives and re-order the values of the target population. They watched a powerful nation restructure its government, at high cost, for no cause but fear of them. They watched the dollar cost tick up and confidence diminish. They watched the president jump behind the military and put on a poker face instead of providing leadership. Even today, buildings knocked down are still down and the people of America are planning to build a memorial instead of putting the buildings back up. The people of America will see the memorial as an honor to their fallen. The terrorists will see the memorial as an honor to their victory.

By its capitulation on 11 Sep 2001 and by depriving people of actionable information about vulnerability and risk the Bush administration enhanced the fear and confusion sought by al Qaeda. To manage a vulnerability, a person needs to examine it, learn about it, assess their risk, and act to eliminate the vulnerability or reduce its impact and or reduce their risk. This procedure removes fear from the process of making decisions. The Bush administration has consistently provided nebulous descriptions of vulnerability and deprived the world of information that would facilitate study and assessment of risk. They inject fear into the decision making process and leave people feeling confused and powerless by withholding actionable information. That enables the protection game. Elect me because I will protect you. Give me these powers because I will protect you. Let me spend your money because I will protect you. Let me ignore these laws because I will protect you. Let me invade and occupy these countries because I will protect you.

The terrorists have watched their target population incur trillions of dollars in defecit spending, restructure their government, and scramble to employ and deploy all manner of new security measures. They chuckle over the high power they have been given so easily. They laugh and mock all these new efforts because they know that none of them will prevent them from striking again. The administration, followed by the people of America have given so much power to the terrorists that all they need do is send an ominous email to see their target scramble to respond, spend billions of dollars, and suffer disruptions of systems and services. The administration, followed by the people of America, have promoted common killers to the rank of enemy combatant. The administration may have done that just to justify its own behavior or cover ineptitude but the people of America have signed on. They have backed the war on terror as though a great army has massed against them. Heady reward for the terrorists. They have to caution themselves against getting a big head because the administration and its followers have given them more power than they give to the entire Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense combined. America transformed a criminal act into a noble act of war and responded by perpetrating an ignoble war; absent of logic, cause or provocation and against all but the criminals who assaulted their nation.

A sadly ironic consequence to the non-feasant, mis-feasant, mal-feasant leadership described above is that the terrorists have been given the high ground. Criminals, killers now hold the rank of enemy combatant or insurgent. Their cause has been given legitimacy, and every terrorist on earth has been given a pat on the back and encouraged to carry on. The administration, followed by the people of America have not only promoted common killers to the rank of enemy combatant but demoted themselves to the rank of killer and torturer at worst and bully at best. Federal and international laws have been sidestepped or ignored altogether. No responsibility has ever been taken for allowing a criminal assault to succeed. A country that presented no threat was attacked and occupied. Imagine a world where being afraid of what a person might do is sufficient cause to kill them. Imagine a world where any government can imprison a person for fear of what they might do and torture them and kill them or hold them indefinitely by no cause but fear.

Given a different leader and leadership:

Upon hearing that his nation was under terrorist attack, the immediate response of the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces was to run for his duty station. Upon arrival at the Capitol, he went directly to the Pentagon and held a press conference on the roof. He took full responsibilty for failing to deter the attack and promised to study every possible factor of that failure and get control over every last one. He took full responsibility for every impact the attack would have and could yet have if not tended to carefully and comprehensively. He went on to explain that America has now been called to a type of challenge that it has not ever been called to before. He explained that in such a challenge the goal has nothing to do with territory or anything tangible. "The goal of the challenger is the modification of behavior. To win this challenge, we must not modify our behavior. We can make it better. We can make it stronger. We can make it more effective and more efficient and more reaching. But if we change it, we lose. Whatever way you live your life, live it well. Whatever plans you have, do them well. Whatever was knocked down, put it back up. Whether it be tangible or intangible, if it was knocked down by the enemy, put it back up and do it quickly. So long as America bears the scar of a missing building or a confidence shaken, the terrorist has a mark to brag about. Remove those marks at all haste. I will not allow our fallen citizens or buildings to become some form of encouragement to more terror or a twisted mark of victory for even a single terrorist to point to. I will talk to you again as soon as I get to New York."

In New York, the President held a press conference as close to ground zero as could safely be done without disturbing rescue efforts yet where he and ground zero could both be seen. He again took full responsibility for failing to prevent the attack. He expressed his grief in losing so many lives. "I will honor the fallen by honoring the lives they wanted to live. I will honor them by promoting and defending the values they lived for and worked for. I will honor their families by keeping their country strong, their paths well guarded, and by doing my part to win this challenge." The President then faced the cameras full on and asked the terrorists to pay attention. "Death is not defeat. Buildings put down will be put back up. You win nothing. In this country, we do not base decisions upon fear. We base decisions upon what we want and upon what we value and upon the wisdom we have earned. If we base a decision upon what your behavior has been or might be, we would bind ourselves to you. We will not be bound to you. We work openly and spend courage. You work in secret and spend fear. Your chosen method of communicating with America was ill advised. Justice has heard you. People have not. Justice is now calling for you. Honor justice by coming openly to face it. Be heard by people. You will dishonor yourselves if you choose not to. That choice will also make it necessary for justice to come to you."

The President knew that it was going to be a difficult task for people to get back on airplanes especially so he held yet one more press conference. This time the location was on board flight 93 as it flew its scheduled route for the first time after the FAA opened up the airways again. He would set a very important example for the population to follow and, at the same time, in a wonderful way, honor the passengers of the last flight 93 who apparently had overwhelmed the terrorists onboard and prevented them from reaching their target.

The consequence of that leadership:

The people of America rallied behind their leader and followed his examples and his advice. They memorialized their fallen and worked through their grief privately, away from terrorist eyes. They put buildings back up - stronger, taller, better - but back up quickly to cover the wounds, help the country heal, and remove any mark a terrorist could point to. They not only kept their travel plans but planned a bit more, just to make a point. The administration did study every factor that allowed a successful attack and got a good control over every one and gained a wealth of new knowledge and put that to work as well. As knowledge was gained, it was given to the population so people could study their vulnerability and make an accurate assessment of their risk and determine the best course of action for themselves.

No power was given to the terrorists. Not a drop. They not only had to cringe in suffering their failure but had to expend most of their time and resources for doing little more than concealing themselves from the justice that was seeking them out. A justice that now had arms reaching out from nearly every country in the world. With all the lessons learned by America, shared with and learned from other nations, with the admiration and respect of all nations (and terrorists), with the focus of decisions based solely upon free world values, with the skillful application of those lessons enforced by those decisions, the terrorists' thoughts of striking again were relegated to the status of daydreams for now. Governments avoid them. Recruits are hard to enlist. Members are recalcitrant and support is declining. The one government that did abet and shield the criminals was taken down for its criminal behavior. No other government aspired to criminal status. No other government, no people, no land would ever again abet al Qaeda.

"When terror is the principle tactic, courage is the principle factor.
The party that spends the most courage will win." - Steve Brungard

"Ever since September 11, I have tried to explain Bush's behavior to myself. I cannot. His behavior must be driven by unstated motives because no rationale explains his behavior in the context of counter terror activity. And the results of his behavior have been pro terror. This is my explanation to me: A small band of criminals assaulted the people of the United States. Bush sat dumbfounded for seven minutes then ran away to hide in a bunker and activated the full force of the armed services in response. Instead of providing leadership, he served himself. Instead of decrying crime, he cried war. I accept action in Afghanistan on principle, but, the criminal organization that assaulted the people of the United States was not the target and the government that supported them was allowed to run away and regroup. Then Bush invaded Iraq which had nothing whatsoever to do with the criminal assault and posed no threat. It seems that George Bush was so terrified by the assault on 9/11 that he ran away and hid in a bunker until his duty station was well fortified, then sent the armed forces overseas to be a diversionary target so he could feel safer at home. Combining that with massive and extensive spying on his own people, the detention of persons without charge and the use of violative interrogation tactics, a picture emerges of a person gone mad with fear - lashing out at countries and organizations and persons in fear of what they might do. George W. Bush seems to believe that it is okay to kill and torture and violate people if you feel afraid of them. This concept is satisfying to a person still angry at the president for running away to hide when leadership was sorely needed. But this concept leaves a lot of presidential behavior unexplained. I ponder more.

In responding to a criminal assault upon the people of the United States, the behavior of George W. Bush has been the near opposite of providing leadership and bringing criminals to justice. His first act was to run away and hide. His second act was to promote criminals and grant them legitimacy. His third act was to divert violence away from the newly promoted criminals. His fourth act continues to be the presentation of the words Islam and Muslim with negative and frightful words like extremism and radicalism and fascism. Islamic Fascist is a well chosen term used to lever up fear in the memories of World War II and focus that fear broadly across the global diaspora of Islam. Then a popular christian evangelist proclaims that his God does not tell him to kill people. Bin Laden and his recruiters then point to the Great Satan USA attacking Islam with words and troops. For a person still yearning to be accepted by their elders and society, the call to jihad is real and compelling. For a person of little hope, the call to martyrdom is a grand attraction to that reverence their society will hold for their sacrifice. Both of these causes have been raised up to them by Bush and validated by bin Laden and both calls are far more appealing than a call to join a band of low life vermin cowardly criminals reviled by every society and hunted by every criminal justice system on earth. The lines between Christian and Muslim have been drawn and regardless of whose God Allah tells them to kill people, people a plenty are being killed and more have died at the hands of those whose God Allah does not tell them to kill than by those whose God Allah does. Now, al Qaeda, Taleban, Hizbullah, and Hamas have all gained strength and popularity. Nothing I can surmise about Bush is satisfying so I return to the Bush bin Laden Tag Team. Each person believes they are working directly for God Allah. Each one sees the other as an enemy of the God Allah they work for. Both have been carefully maneuvering Christians to one side and Muslims to the other. Both have been fear mongering to incite their respective sides. A third world war pitting muslim versus christian is the one concept that more ably explains the behavior of Bush and of bin Laden better than any other. Afghanistan and Iraq may have been little more than places for Bush to position troops, stage equipment, install artillery and missile sites, and ready airfields for the coming war. World War III will likely begin in Iran and Syria but eventually embroil the entirety of Islamic and Judeo Christian diasporas.