Something very insidious and very clever has crept into the political landscape of America. It is the notion that the government can wage war on a concept, rather than on another government. Like the War on Drugs. Or the War on Climate Change. Or the War on Terror.

Terror is not something you can fight. Terror is, by definition,

a concept open to interpretation, definition and re-definition. It can’t be defeated. It can’t be eradicated. It is a concept. Very slippery to get your arms around.

And that’s the beauty of it.

Because war on a thing is convenient. It is all-inclusive. It has no boundaries. No clear end.

If you declare war on Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, once bin Laden is dead or captured and Al Qaeda has either surrendered or been wiped out, the war is over. Goal met. Bring the troops home. Same way with declaring war on the drug cartels. Once they are defeated, the war is over.

If, on the other hand, you declare war on terror, or war on drugs, you are free to continue to redefine your objective without ever having a decided end to your efforts. You can just go on modifying your objective as you see fit, for as long as you see fit. This is a very clever and convenient strategy if you politically cannot continue to constantly declare war, but have multiple axes to grind or have an agenda that may require you to consistently engage other countries or entities by force..

In the 50’s and 60’s, it was the War on Communism. This led to Korea and Viet Nam, both of which were stalemates after horrendous loss of life. The War on Communism led to the House Un-American Affairs Committee (a.k.a. McCarthy-ism), in which the government spied on and persecuted its own citizens on the suspicion that they were communist sympathizers (sort of sounds like the Patriot Act, doesn’t it). It also led indirectly to the Kent State killings, where National Guard troops responsible to protect the citizens of the United States opened fire on unarmed citizens of the United States.

In the 80’s, 30 years after it began, this same War on Communism was used to justify the sending of weapons and other support to a guy named bin Laden and his Mujahideen rebels as they fought the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR. Now the U.S. is fighting that same bin Laden in the War on Terror, which has led to battlefields in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. All without the need for the President to go to Congress and request a formal Declaration of War, as is required by the Constitution.

So, here’s the deal: There is no War on Terror. Never has been. Never will be. Because you can’t have war on a thing. You do have to admit, though, that like it or not, the political tactic of proclaiming a war on something like terror is a thing of absolute beauty.

Very insidious, and very clever.

© 2009, Mac Williams. All rights reserved.

• Forget Osama bin Laden