HOWTO: Lose The War on Overwhelming Fear

There is a simple way to lose the War on Overwhelming Fear (a.k.a. what the neocons call "The War on Terror"). That simple way is to keep telling people to be very, very afraid. That simple way is exactly what our leaders have been doing for the last 5 years.

One would think that it's a fairly simple equation. On one side of the war is Us. On the other side of the war is Overwhelming Fear (i.e. "Terror"). The obivous and most glaring strategy would seem to be to tell people "don't be afraid". It would seem that in a war on an emotion, directly attacking that emotion (with calm, reason, and humor) would be the most likely strategy to defeat it.

However, what we've seen during each election cycle since 9/11 is rampant fear-mongering. The strategy of the Neocons has been to try and ratchet up the fear in such a manner that those who would most viciously fight the people we are supposed to be afraid of gain the most public support.

This strategy has left our nation more afraid, and more susceptible, to terror attacks. Hence, the political strategy of turning up the fear in order to gain more support for killing people, has become self-defeating, as the terror now is greater than it was over 5 years ago.

And of course, there's Iraq to contend with.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Part of a classified intelligence report that says the war in Iraq has increased the terrorist threat against the United States has fueled calls by congressional Democrats for a new direction in the nation's war on terrorism.

U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials Sunday confirmed to CNN the contents of the leaked portion of the National Intelligence Estimate, which was first reported in the Sunday editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Some intelligence officials have said as much in the past, but the newly revealed document is part of the government's first formal report on global trends in terrorism.

"Press reports say our nation's intelligence services have confirmed that President Bush's repeated missteps in Iraq and his stubborn refusal to change course have made America less safe," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said. "No election-year White House PR campaign can hide this truth."

[full story]

It is very sad to see a country go from the land of the free and the home of the brave, to the land of watched and home of the scared...but that's the Republican strategy...and even more sadly...it seems to be working.