Why the Bush "War on Terror" is Fated to Fail
Terrorism is an ideological problem, not a military problem. It is a mental illness caused by a lethal set of virulent
group dynamics masquerading as religion. The time is long overdue for us to take our "politically correct," white gloves
off so-called religious groups that are in reality bands of dangerous, brainwashed criminals.
What happens when you mix power politics with the Christian strain of religious fundamentalism? You get a toxic stew of
arrogance and absolutism; a medieval us-versus-them, God-is-on-our-side mind set that marches right into the jaws of the
ideologically-inspired, mass paranoia of Islamic terrorist groups. Thus each group acts and reacts based on the same
deadly dynamics, each the other's evil enemy.
The political rhetoric surrounding the rationale for the war in Iraq continues to sound more like a religious crusade,
the political consequences of cult-like group dynamics that, to survive, depend upon creating outside enemies. With an
unsettling irony, we become the aggressor, the global bully, terrorizing tens of thousands of innocent civilians
(between 6,806 and 7,797 killed in Iraq alone, according to a British-American research group in London) in a desperate
attempt to destroy a member of George W's designated "axis of evil." Are we now going to be political police, imposing
our concept of democracy around the globe?
War certainly qualifies as a "weapon of mass destruction," and our pre-emptive/preventative policy of violent aggression
against a sovereign nation only serves to dump more fuel on the spreading ideological plague of vicious, Islamic
fundamentalism now directed against non-Muslims and most of the civilized world. War only solidifies and further ignites
the passions of those individuals caught in this lethal swamp of group-inspired hatred directed towards the U.S. Bush's
divisive, gun-slinger, "You're either with us or against us," absolutism, is eerily similar to Islamic fanatics, who are
intent upon terrorizing and destroying the "infidels"-that's you and me-and anyone else who is non-Muslim. They believe,
in the words of one prominent Iranian ayatollah, that "Moslems have no alternative . . . to an armed holy war against
profane governments. . . . . It will . . . be the duty of every able-bodied adult male to volunteer for this war of
conquest, the final aim of which is to put Koranic law in power from one end of the earth to the other." To
fundamentalist Islam the US is the "great Satan," while George W. Bush, indoctrinated by his own destructive, self
righteous, group-think, world view, said, "We are in a conflict between good and evil, and America will call evil by its
name." And, according to the "Bush Doctrine," the United States is "called to bring God's gift of liberty to every human
being in the world" - good news for Christians, bad news for Moslems and other beliefs.
How have we as a nation been led down this slippery slope into the terrible maw of our own brand of barbaric, black and
white dogmatism that is perverting a nation once dedicated to peace and freedom into a war-mongering, "many-headed
beast" intent on ever-increasing world dominance. Hence the transparent spectacle of archaic empire-building disguised
as "freedom and democracy."
The Bush regime's behavior epitomizes many dangerous characteristics of a full-blown cult: a dysfunctional group
ideology obliterates the individual human conscience, whether Christian or Muslim; ideology-fanaticism and mass
hysteria-then become mechanisms for rationalizing the greatest evil of all-war. Once infected, this dehumanizing, mental
virus turns normally "good" people into conscienceless killing machines. This is NOT religion! This is insanity!
A political party, a group, sect or religion gone bad requires dedicated, willing members who surrender independent
critical thinking and suppress their innate sense of right and wrong for an idealistic sounding mission. Conscience,
integrity and a sense of self-responsibility are the first casualties in any destructive ideology. Because a
group-directed life is much less of a strain than individual critical thinking and self-responsibility, there is an
ever-present, overwhelming temptation to allow the group mind to displace the individual conscience. The process goes
something like this:
Education: People, often beginning with children, are taught to hate those who are different and they are taught to
interpret scriptures, like the Bible or the Koran, literally instead of symbolically: holy war, Jihad, is then
externalized, waged on perceived outside enemies in contrast to an inner holy war with one's lesser nature.
Creating enemies: The group, whether political or religious, must create enemies to survive: other nation states, other
religions, other races. Unspeakable evil is rationalized for the "greater good," for the sake of the group's mission and
agenda. It's "unfortunate" if thousands of innocent civilians are murdered in the process.
Labeling: Destructive ideologies categorize others by group characteristics such as color, religion, ethnicity,
nationality or economic status instead of seeing the individual human being.
Elitism: Leaders' ideas and agenda are sacred, inspired or beyond reproach: This produces a presumed superiority over
others with different views, encouraging elitism, separation, hatred, and prejudice.
Black and white thinking: Destructive organizations promote a fundamental separation of pure and impure, good and evil:
purity equates to being in the group; impurity and evil equate to those outside the group, who must be saved, defeated
or destroyed. God is always on their side.
Exclusiveness: Belief that their belief system-whether political, economic, or religious-is the solution for the world's
problems. They have the truth and nonbelievers do not.
Censorship: Leadership attempts to control information and communication into and out of the group as well as
individuals' inner thought processes. Doubts, criticisms and different ideas are taken as attacks, disloyalty, or lack
of faith.
What then do we do about terrorism and terrorists? First we must refuse to lower ourselves to their level-to become the
"evil" that we most despise in others. And we must find creative alternatives to war, working with our allies and the
world community to solve legitimate international crises. Of course we, along with all non-violent, freedom-loving
peoples, must work together to find and arrest each and every individual who commits a terrorist act or any other crime
against humanity. There can be no sanctuary on the planet for such criminals. Terrorism has no geographical boundaries.
Its territory is the human mind.
Teaching children to hate those who have different beliefs is a crime against our common humanity. Those who teach
hatred, racism, and prejudice in schools ought to be treated as criminals and sociopaths. Any institution, any ideology,
organization or school, like the Islamic Madrassa that promotes such teachings must no longer be tolerated by the world
community and must be outlawed.
It may well be that we are condemned to repeat past horrors-until we come to grips with the crucial necessity to educate
ourselves and most urgently, children everywhere, about the often fatal effects of destructive groups and destructive
ideologies. We ought to be defenders of freedom and democracy, a benevolent force in the world through our example, not
demagogues wearing the dark shrouds of arrogance, power, religious absolutism and empire-building.
Perhaps the real weapon of mass destruction we need to be concerned about is the virulent, fundamentalist group mind
that has infected both the Christian and Moslem religions.
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- John D. Goldhammer, Ph.D., is a Seattle Washington (USA) writer, psychologist, and author of "U nder the Influence: The Destructive Effects of Group Dynamics " (Prometheus Books). His newest book has just been released: Radical Dreaming (Kensington/Citadel Press). He has created and taught these university classes: Psychology of Groups and The Psychology
of Hate. jgoldhammer@mindspring.com .
This article was also Published on Saturday, November 22, 2003 by CommonDreams.org