Terrorism

I watched the flick "Catch a Fire" recently and it made me pause and rethink my perception of terrorism. In the movie the 'terrorists' were fighting against South Africa's apartheid regime. These freedom fighters were opposing injustice, but they were terrorists because they were causing destruction and subverting the government. I realized that not all terrorists are inherently evil as our fear-promoting government would have us believe (if you haven't read "Culture of Fear" by Glassner, you should). It seems like whenever the Bush administration wants to get some controversial foreign policy item past the U.S. taxpayers or congress they just say "go along with it or the terrorists will gain strength!"
(I'm paraphrasing of course).

Yes, many terrorists commit atrocious acts, sometimes against innocent civilians, and this must be condemned and combated. However, in order to combat terrorism, I think we need to understand the root causes of it: terrorism is bred from oppression; terrorists perceive a threat to their country, family, or ideology and believe it must be defended to the death; and every terrorist we take out becomes a martyr to his or her cause. In the movie, the protagonist was just trying to raise his family and do his job but he was taken by the government, questioned and tortured under groundless suspicion of a terrorist act. By the end he felt he had no choice but to join the freedom fighters, because no one could live peacefully until the oppressors were ousted.

I believe the U.S. military has good intentions, but every time civilians are inadvertently killed we are producing more terrorists in the form of those that cared for the fallen. If a foreign power occupied my city and a member of my family was killed by a stray bullet in a firefight, I would become blind with rage and take up arms against that force and do everything in my power to undermine their cause. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died since this war/operation has begun and no one in America talks about it. Yes we should honor and pay tribute to our fallen soldiers, but we should also apologize for destroying Iraqi families. I think these endless military strikes are like trying to beat out a fire with a lit torch. We need to try more diplomacy because this war can't be won by technological superiority.

My point is that most Americans live relatively privileged lives and some are quick to pass moral judgement on others, when we should in fact try to see the other side and get some perspective. Being American does not make you right. It makes me sad when I hear about our government disregarding the Geneva Convention because those in our custody are not technically prisoners of war. I love my country, but I long for the feeling I had as a young boy when I was 100% certain that we were the 'good guys.'