Obvious, but possibly worth stating...again and again and again

Am I the only person who does not understand what constitutes a "win" in Iraq or Afghanistan. Am I alone in my confusion of the meaning of "War on Terrorism"? Isn't terrorism a state of mind ? Haven't wars typically been fought over physical boundaries and/or to reinstate basic human rights and freedom to an oppressed people. Both war and terrorism are despicable. Each is evil, cruel and pointless. Human beings die for this misguided, insanity. But at its very basic level.. how do we eradicate a state of mind through blood shed. Can we ever really kill it?

The Bush Administration has defined 21 objectives in the War on Terrorism: [19] The most disturbing to me:

Win the war of ideals. Whose ideals...human rights should be upheld everywhere but what country has a right to force an ideal on a person, a people, or a nation? Shouldn't ideals be self proclaimed and left alone as long as they are non violent?

Do troops, tanks, guns, bombs and torture change ideals of human beings? Can a deeply rooted, desperate state of mind be positively altered through physical force, brutality or tragic human loss? I think not. War spreads desperation. Then, it kills. Period.

When we are attacked, we will defend our country and our people. Why can't we find the leaders of Al Qaeda? Why can't we take out the bad guys? Go in and get out ! Grossly over simplified, I know, but win the war on ideals...when exactly will that be accomplished? What exactly does that mean? If I am going to send my son into war, I better first know what he is dying for, and I better damn well believe it is more valuable than his life. Personally, I could never reach that belief, and would leave the country before sending him to war - but it should at least be clearly identified for all those families who are willing to sacrifice.

It is severely understated to say that our conflict with "terrorists" is complicated, but I just wonder if we keep fighting and sending human beings into battle fields because we really don't know what else to do. Is that a good enough reason? Today we are engaged in "anti terrorist warfare" in 19 countries. 58,000 - 60,000 kids (over 50% American) are stashed away in hills, deserts, jungles of Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Gaza Strip/West Bank, India, Pakistan, Waziristan, Indonesia, Philippines, Columbia. . They are defending "freedom", but in actuality, they shoot to keep the "terrorist" from getting close to their fort. Over 4000 Americans have lost their lives in Iraq. Did we really change the state of mind of Iraqi's over the last 4 years? Have their ideals been transformed? Over 1,000,000 people have died in this conflict...we took out one really bad guy and some of his organization, and that is good, even worth some level of painful sacrifice, but the jury is out as to whether Iraqi's want democracy enough to fight to preserve it once we withdraw. The jury is out on whether our ideals are in fact their ideals. Afghanistan seems completely uninterested in "American ideals" and the more we fight them , the more they hate us. We take citizens out of the safe environment of their native sovereign nation and drop them into the middle of a destructive state of mind, forcing violence. What the hell does this accomplish. It is sickening. We should be trying to alter this evil state of mind by demonstrating the power of freedom from afar, within our own boundaries. What about spending the $10 billion per month in fortifying the safety of our country, in our country....surely we are smart enough to intercept the enemy intellectually..before they enter our air space... We haven't and won't always succeed, there will be casualties, but actively placing people in the midst of brutality and death to solve a problem we cannot solve is incomprehensible. Worse, to sacrifice human beings for financial gain and lucrative trade agreements is gut wrenchingly disgusting.

We better get our heads out of the blood stained sand and start tending to our own humanitarian ideals - and work to save the world by compassionately showing people, through our example, how to save themselves...