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Re:Congress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain War... by polshaw on Tuesday December 25, 2012 @06:18PM (#4967423)
>The war on terror is... about preventing fear.

Many people would argue exactly the opposite

Re:Congress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain War... by gnaritas on Tuesday December 25, 2012 @07:35PM (#4967642)
You can argue the opposite of anything, and many do; doesn't mean anything. 911 for example, caused the fear, which then was used to pass draconian laws, but those laws were meant to both seize power and alleviate the fear, to the point of implementing things like the TSA, which aren't real protection, but make people feel less fear.
Re:Congress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain War... by mhurron on Tuesday December 25, 2012 @11:52PM (#4968184)
Other than the government with it's war on terror, who has actually done anything to perpetrate fear in the population?

Since 2001, there has been no terrorist activity against the US. You are told about threats the war on terror has dealt with, but no actual action or actors can be pointed to yet the government is keeps the fear of terror alive. They have done far more to that end than any terrorist organization has. This causes the population in general to accept any course of action that they are told will deal with that looming threat, but it never seems to do so.

Once side of the government generates and keeps the fear alive, the other side uses the fear to do what they wish. Neither side wants the fear to go away.

The US Government is the largest group terrorizing the US population today. They use the war on terror to do it.

Re:Congress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain War... by gnaritas on Wednesday December 26, 2012 @01:10AM (#4968370)
Well, we just disagree.
Re:Congress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain War... by obstacle1 on Wednesday December 26, 2012 @02:04AM (#4968479)
Do you disagree with anything specific, or are you just done discussing it?

I've not heard many people seriously argue that the TSA's mandate is to alleviate fear, much less argue that the TSA carries out said mandate successfully.

Re:Congress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain War... by gnaritas on Wednesday December 26, 2012 @10:04AM (#4969412)
Just done discussing it.
Re:Congress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain War... by polshaw on Wednesday December 26, 2012 @07:56AM (#4969093)
When considering the war on terror, and the threat to america/'the west', i think of how damn easy it would be for any one of us to cause at least double digit deaths, if we were determined[1]. And yet, there are extremely few of these events related to islamic extremism. I think of how basic the attacks that have happened have been. The US does not share it's intelligence with us, but these facts suggest that the real threat is.. minimal.

1. Look at Breivik for example. Or the latest nutter shooting up a school.