The War on Terror, Essay Example

The War on Terror: Enriching the Military-Industrial Complex since 2001!

There are many Americans – usually after a long session of watching Fox News with a glazed look in their eyes and a slipstream of drool coming out the side of their mouths — who probably lay awake at night, worrying about whether the largest standing army in the world is quite big enough??  After all, the Cold War has been over for decades and the fight against the creeping tentacles of Communism and the specter of the Red Menace has long since subsided, and in that lull, there was every danger that the American military, voracious eater of more than half of our national budget, might have to tighten its belt and go on the economic equivalent of the Atkins diet.

But never fear, stalwart Americans!  The Bush administration, taking political advantage of the ghastly tragedies of September 11^th (‘cause when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade!), has found a new way to keep the coffers of our Department of the Defense nice and fat! Enter: the War on Terror, or the Next Best Thing since the Bay of Pigs!  The War on Terror has kept Americans nice and scared, just as its big brother, the Cold War, did before it, and the great thing about scared people is that they will pay up the nose in order to feel safe again!  As an advertising campaign, the War on Terror has been eminently successful: its customers (the American public), are flocking in to pay for (through their taxes) the product that the government is now offering us (the perception of security).

The best part about this is that, unlike the Cold War, the War on Terror never has to end! The problem with the Cold War is that once the USSR had fallen, there was no need to fight anymore.  But with the War on Terror, when we are done with one country –Iraq, for instance — we can simply go on to the next!  Iran! Syria! The Ukraine!  The possibilities are virtually mind-boggled, and limited only by the scope of our paranoid imagination!

So do not worry about having to cut the military budget any time soon, or fret that we will have to waste money that could otherwise be spent on war on piddling things like education, infrastructure or healthcare.  With the War on Terror, there is no end in sight and absolutely no chance of military budget cuts! Hurray for safety, apple pie, and the American way!