What do you reckon about the "war on terror" now? is it a waste of time now? making relations worse?
153235
The 'War on terror' is just a political stunt/excuse! Its never waste of time to the war mongers. Establishment of political & economic suprimacy over the others is the main theme of such act of barbarism. The tragedy is, the invaders dictate relationship, they neither make it nor shape it. Its just muscle-men's theory, which don't last long as we see in the history.\nIn the name of war on terror, protection of human rights, democracy, good governance bla-bla-bla, they are trying to destroy peace & harmony in today's world. But in the end, we understand, they will not be spared by the people in the Globe in tomorrows.
881688
It's bad news for anyone who believes in freedom and liberty.\n\nThe fight has already begun to take them away from us.  We either respond now or let those in power take our freedom.  Their favorite and very effective trick is to use "terrorism" to scare the public in to letting them pass new laws that increase their control over the citizens, heading towards total dictatorship.  In the last few years the American Constitution (which is supposed to be a symbol for democracy, fairness, freedom and liberty) has be OVER-RULED !!!!\n\nBush has taken over 200 years of morals and shoved them hard up every ones behind.  The UK isn't exactly far behind, and I for one will not just sit here and watch.\n\ntake action.... I am.
257171
I knew it was going to be a mess before we went in there. The problem is politics. If we leave now it will strengthen the resolve of terrorists. It's psychological warfare, and unfortunately the weapons used are human lives. Its a no win situation. We have to find the lesser of two evils and run with it. I personally feel we have, but I feel we could be doing more to prepare the Iraqis to take care of their own.
933169
The biggest suprise is that the war and the war on terror is actually going to make terrorism worse. We've dug a big hole that we now need to get out of.
1166499
Are you guys really that clueless?\nI agree that the media puts it's own swing on it especially during rating time or lack of other doomsday news. but come on have you not realized terrorism is very real and an even bigger deal then you apparently are able to grasp. by no means should we walk around being afraid but waking up and dealing with it would be nice.
899215
How have we "sunk to the level of AQ when interrogating foes"?  Honestly, do you believe that or just hate things so much it comes out like that?\n\nYou are entitled to your opinion, but is this as well informed as your question can get?
116522
The War on Terror is a different war than ever fought, and that's why it is so difficult to win. What people don't realize is that these terrorists or freedom fighters are fighting for what they so deeply believe in, and they are not part of an organized military. They can be anyone from Joe down the street, or Al-Mohhomed in Afghanastan. No one knows. The rest of the world is begining to realize that yes, this is a serious threat, and it harms more than the United Staes. Take the U.K bombings, and hotel bombing in Jordan. Al-Quida is terrorising people of the same faith. With this war there are no borders. I do not agree with George Bush, but I will say that he is correct in one aspect. We must stay the course until victory is ours. If we back down to people who threaten us, then that puts us and the rest of the world into a submissive situation, and then those people will begin to walk all over us. Once a victory is achieved by someone, that person wants more, and becomes power hungry. That is the situation with terrorists. The war on terrorism is a bitter stale-mate.
891359
Bad.  He's put this country in danger from terrorist.  We now live in fear.  He ignored what the majority of his people wanted and started a war.
372319
Read 1984.  It is not a war on terror.  It is a war.  Just a reason to go to war.  It is ambiguous.  It can continue indefinitely.  It has no terminus.  It is an excellent reason to violate rights.  It is an excuse to seize power and not let go.  It tramples constitutional rights.  It is a pseudo-martial law. (I could go on, but I won't)
1099656
The "War on Terror" is a linguistic and philosophical impossibility and obviously it does not work in political and military terms either.\nOne cannot declare war on an abstract such as terror, but an unintelligent and uneducated  man like George W. Bush, who can not even speak proper English, seems to have missed that.\n\nBy its nature, war creates terror. So how can a war be ever on or against terror?\n\nPersonally I am against this war, which is now called inside the Pentagon "The Long War". I think it is really the first phase of World War III. \nThere was no need for this war, and no legitimate reason. The war was started illegally and lead to the invasion and illegal occupation of two countries (Iraq and Afghanistan). It is the biggest mistake the USA have ever made (so far) and will cost us all dearly in the present and future.\n\nIf this war is ever properly investigated, we will all be shocked beyond our wildest imagination, as US troops are commiting war crimes and atrocities every single day and abusing human rights as a pastime.\n\nThe more the USA behave as the bully boy of the world, the more terrorism will be created. So the best way to end it, is to get out of the Middle East, apologise and make amends.\n\nAnd one other thing we should not forget: Al-Qaeda, which was not in Iraq before the invasion, but is now, was founded by the CIA as a group to conduct a "jihad" against the Russians in Afghanistan. The CIA trained and financed the group, and selected their leader, Osama bin-Laden, who was (and most likely still is) a CIA operative. There is currently no country more involved with the sponsering and spreading of terror than the USA and the sooner that stops, the sooner peace and freedom will have a chance again.\n\nRegarding a new leader for the USA, I can at present see no one who springs to mind as the absolute solution. As possibilities I would see Senator McCain (Rep-Arizona) and General Wesley Clarke (Dem). McCain should have won the Republican nomination in 2000 (but was cheated out of his chance by the Bush camp and their millionaire sponsors) and Clarke should have been taken more seriously by the Democrats in 2004. After all, he was NATO Supreme Commander in Europe during the Balkan Wars and knows how to fight (and win) a campaign.
676265
The world is already mad about the war on terror.  What we ever accomplished during Bush Administration is making the world a less safe place to live in.  We lost the good diplomatic relations we had with other nations during Clinton's term.  All we have thrive for are being destroy by the war.  We refuse to listen to our allies and now they are mad at us.  We build UN to resovle world issue and keep peace and we put it aside and go on with our own decision.  The world is not democratic.
123555
I think we've been very fortunate not to have sustained any more attacks yet. In fact, in spite of my complete lack of trust in the bush adminstration i must give some credit for their ability to protect our country from any subsequent attacks. However, I belive the way the war on terror has been handled (particularly in iraq) we only only feeding the fire. I think we are making new terrorists everyday because of our activities.  I would have preferred to see our involvement stay within afghanistan where the problem was. Unfortuatenly, we have not found Osama. We have found Hussein, but i don't remember him crashing planes into the world trade center. \nI hope our good fortunate continues and we are not attacked on our soil again. But bush's continued aggression in the middle east can't possibly be helping to tame terrorism, but only to incite. Recent decisions to sell our ports to an arab country linked with the taliban is also worrisome. \nIt's a good question you've asked and its easy to say the war on terror has been effective to the extent that we haven't had any more attacks and maybe in the short run, it has helped to prevent some attacks. But i am seriously concerned about the long term consequences of the way in which the war on terror is being handled by our president.
959976
Yes, I read the comment from the director of MI5.  I believe it is plausable.  As far as solutions, we as the public ar limited, I mean really the majority of muslims are alright, it's just the fanatics.  Should we punish them all, for actions of the few? No. However, I do feel that the muslim community in general, should take a little more pro-active approach to encouraging this type of behaviour to stop.  They should denounce hate pedalers and encourage prosecution of people who incite violence against people who don't follow their religion.  They have done this on a few occasions but more is needed.  MI5 says they are following 1600 people, good, hopefully any plots should be foiled.  If there are more bombings, it will get alot worse for muslims in the UK.  As far as apologies and running away from Iraq, that's not a solution.  Those are chicken sh*t tactics, and is exactly what the fundamentalists want, so they can spew more hate fueled rhetoric, calling the west heartless, weak, scared, defeated, and call for the destruction of the zionist empire next.  Blah,Blah,Blah.  All we can do, is remain vigilent in our own communities and rely on spy agencies to do their job.  After all, they already took away our fire arms, so we have to leave any response to the government.
28962
Well, first let me say that I hate the terms "War on Terror" or "War on Terrorism." "Terror" is an emotion and "Terrorism" is a tactic. It's like saying "War on sadness," or "War on air-power."\n\nThat said, I think that we still would have invaded Afghanistan and deposed the Taliban. That would have been a priority for any president.\n\nHowever, I don't think that a liberal president would have then invaded Iraq. There was simply not enough evidence to warrant such a huge cost (financially and in terms of lives lost).\n\nI would hope that a liberal president would put this so-called war on the back burner and instead address some of the more pressing problems in our country. 9/11 was a terrible tragedy. As a New Yorker, you don't have to tell me this, but Bush fumbled the aftermath to an incredible degree. We still don't have bin Laden, we invaded a sovereign nation (I thought only bad guys did that), the economy is in the toilet. He's doing a terrible job. He uses the "war on terror" as a smokescreen to hide behind. It's his way to distract us from the real problems.\n\nI think that a liberal president would have behaved the same way in Afghanistan, avoided a needless conflict with Iraq, and put those resources to where they are most needed. Here. At home. \n\nHopefully the next president will find away to get health-care to Americans who need it, support for independent businessmen, and give disaster relief to Americans when they need it most. And that would just be the beginning.\n\nTo sum up, "The War on Terror" cannot be won. It is a tactic that we can try to defend against, but the mindset behind it will always remain one step ahead of us. It is the price we pay for living in a free society. We cannot sacrifice freedom for security. We must accept this and focus on problems that have solutions.
1020959
I am convinced that it would make everyone's life easier. The only terrorist I know of, judging by history and fact is the US, influenced by Israel. Notice the bogus "war on terror"... What a joke!  The US and Israel orchestrated 9/11... So who are the terrorist?  The Arabs are not the ones bombing us!  And what about Harper, Canadian PM who made me ashamed for first time in my life to be Canadian!  8 billion for 8 war planes and 2 billion for 3 warships...  We went from peacekeepers to warmongers, a faint copy of the US.... I won't wear a Canadian flag on my luggage anymore.  Soon we will be as hated than the US!
925062
I agree w/FreeBird, there are lots of forces working behind the scenes for wars. As has been so painfully shown in this current one, I mean if you believe what the admin is saying that we invaded Iraq to "Protect our country" and "Foster Democracy". Then;\nA) Like the elusive WMDs, there never were any terrorists in Iraq...oh yeah TILL WE INVADED!\nB) What about Iran, N. Korea, or a multitude of other countries that have said outright,"We HATE America, we ARE developing WMDs, and WE WANT TO KILL YOU!"? \nC) Why right after 9/11 after saying "Our #1 priority is capturing or killing Bin Laden.." did "Dubya" not even 4 months later say,"We don't know where Bin Laden is, & we honestly don't care, Iraq is our main focus now..."?\n\nThink about how much $$ the defense industry, Haliburton, Big Oil, etc, has made & continues to make from this war.\nThis war was orchestrated as "pay back" for Bush's backers.\nTo keep our focus away while Bush dismantled 40 years of environmental protections, gave billions in tax cuts to the ultra rich, "outted" government whistleblowers who disagreed with his devious plans, and tried to rewrite future legislation to patronize his "base".\nWell beginning today most of that will be just a bad memory.\nDon't get me wrong, with the exception of the environment I think both parties are essentially the same. But just like the Dems before 94 with their complete control of the last 6 years, the old adage rang true,"Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely". The Republican party had become what they promised they would fight, we came out of the fog & sent them a message yesterday. Democracy works best when there is balance, right & left, Liberal & Conservative. That is what our founders sought to achieve. May the investigations begin!
526236
War is regrettable in most any circumstance. I am a veteran, and to see my brethren have to lay down their lives is never something that is easy to deal with. HOWEVER, in the world situation today, terrorism is something that must be battled HEAD ON. We can not sit back passively and wait to be struck again. While war is something that is hard to look at, many times it is necessary. In battling for preserving our safety, it is necessary in today's world that we battle those who would commit terrorism, and those who would openly support it to strike at the United States. While I hope the war ends as quickly as possible, I do not wish for our troops to leave until stability is achieved to a large degree in Iraq. The best hope for more stability in the Middle East is to have a functioning government that is by the people and for the people. Freedom is contagious, and hopefully those in other Middle Eastern countries see and feel the benefits, and strive towards a free and open government in the other countries they reside in. The tide of freedom is a strong one, and much like the ocean it is hard to hold back.\n\nSo support the war effort, and hope for it to continue as long as it needs to, but not longer than it needs to. Pray for the concept of free government to spread like wildfire in the Middle East, so that the entire world is a safer place, and a better place for all peoples.