The "War On Terror"
Is A "War Of Error"


Roy Thinnes was the lead actor in a short-lived, but very important, sci-fi series in 1967/8. It was called "The Invaders." You could only spot the aliens by their crooked pinkies. It's time we started checking the pinkies of the Bush and Blair administrations. These folks ARE the aliens. They ARE the terrorists. They ARE the evil eating us alive.

Let's assume you're a 28-year old Iraqi man. You come home from work one evening to find your house in ruins. Inside the ruins are your mother: dead; your father: dead; your sister: dead and two of your children: dead. The only one left alive is a daughter. Half her face is missing along with her left leg. There's only one question you're going to ask: Who did this evil deed?

You look in the rubble and you find a piece of the missile which blew up your entire life. On it you read: USA. If this happened to you, what would you do next? Very simple. You'd look up Osama bin Laden. After your life has been destroyed for no reason, you're going to become a terrorist. You didn't start your day thinking this way. You may even support the invasion of your nation, hoping some good comes of it. But if your life is destroyed along with your loved ones by the very forces who say they're fighting for democracy's sake, suddenly you may have a different opinion. Global terrorism is a byproduct of Western imperialism. To stop terrorism, all we need to do is end evil, imperialist policies and replace them with compassionate, constructive policies. The question and answer are not that difficult.

It's so silly watching the G8 nations quibbling over aid to Africa. How did the richest continent in natural resources end up the poorest in development? How come no one asks this question? It took more than a century of imperialist policy to destroy African culture and history and leave the land with bitter memories of endless violence. The shame alone from this cruel imposition should compel Europe and America to clean up the mess they created. But, we don't live in a "real" world anymore.

We now have "invaders" in charge. They have crooked pinkies and serpentine minds. It's time to check them out. And then, get rid of them. The violence in the world is a top down phenomenon. Just like slavery, sexism and all the other evil issues confronting humanity. We'll either move forward using the irresistible energies of mass information, mass communication and mass transportation or descend into endless insanity and darkness. It's either one or the other. Do we want to be 12th century feudalists or 21st century futurists? Only our pinkies know for sure.

Franklin L. Johnson
starhelix@aol.com