The Culture of Fear

In times of War, there are plenty of questions that need to be asked; most of us suspect, correctly, that fruitlessly paranoid questions about errant backpacks and idling vans shouldn't be among these. What we really want to know are the reasons why all of this is happening. Why there seem to be more and more suicide bombers with each passing day. Why they target the people that they do. But our leaders condemn reasons as excuses, and dismiss our desire to understand as a desire to justify evil. And so we are left thinking about shady strangers in bulky jackets, snaking their way through the crowd, toward the trains.
The roots of terrorism run very deep, deeper than many would care to accept. And there are people in this world who have worked hard to obscure them. Yet if we are fearless enough to dig down, down trhough the muddiest and darkest parts of our history, we should still be able to uncover them. What we find, however, may implicate everyone in ways we never expected. The question then becomes whether or not we are prepared to take on the responsibility.

Taken from Adbusters Magaizine...Nov/Dec 2005 #62 Vol. 13 Number 6