2007-11-27

If I Were President: An End To Wars...

If I were President, I would declare an immediate end to wars that could not be won: the War on Cancer, the War on Drugs, and the War on Terror. I would vow to the American public that when I declare war, it would be a decision I make with a heavy heart, against a clearly defined foe, with a clearly defined objective, after all other options had been exhausted, and using overwhelming and decisive force.

The Wars on Drugs, Terror, and Cancer are programs of containment against a nebulous target and with nebulous objectives. How do we know we've 'won'? When cancer has been eradicated? When illicit drug use has been eradicated? When terrorism has been eradicated? Impossible!

These wars have failed. They have only succeeded in demonstrating the impossibility of victory. The War on Terror has actually compounded the problem it sought to solve.