Terrorism Turns us into Monsters

The only way to defeat the terrorists

The tragedy in Paris is still raw. Many people have expressed their unfiltered opinions of the attacks. Some have been more careful in their reactions. The common chorus coming out of the political class, and the media, is that ISIS needs to be bombed into oblivion. Another horrible terrorist attack on an industrialized country, another call to level another nation. We see those like us being killed and maimed, we demand double retribution. The only way to end terrorism is to counter with our superior firepower. This is a trap. The terrorists need our aggression The way terrorism thrives is when we become the monsters.

The way we used to respond to terrorism was through strategic police action. The criminals would be identified, their locations would be found, and the terrorist activity would end via death or capture of the bad guys. Some of the time we would change policy to make terror activity more difficult, such as London removing trash bins from the tube and central downtown. That all changed after September 11th. President Bush days after the horrible attacks promised to do to the attackers what they did to us. Bush promised to level a nation for America's wounds. Bush was good to his word, he did level a nation, two nations. The American people cheered on our campaign of "shock and awe". We incorporated words into our culture like "collateral damage" in order to justify the death of Afghan and Iraqi innocents. The new way to respond to terrorism was to retaliate with our superior might and technology. We became angry when terrorism hit our shores, and the world did not like us when we are angry.

Terrorism caused America to turn into the Incredible Hulk. Extremely powerful, unable to control, and a danger to everyone around us. We were big, green, and willing to destroy anything that got in our path. The United States was so focused on the enemy, that any unfortunate thing between us and our prey was going to be caught in the crossfire. It did not matter how many weddings were bombed, we had to get the Al Qaeda number two. A few hospitals get destroyed, we must depose of Saddam. The US was angry, the US must smash.

In the safety of our shores we cheered on this destruction. The destroyed hospitals, weddings, and innocents was never shown on the news. The bodies of kids sent to die in war were not covered on the network news. When Saddam was executed via hanging, we celebrated the end of Iraqi unrest. We were wrong. When Osama Bin Laden was gunned down in a bedroom we celebrated the end of Al Qaeda. We were wrong. When Jihadi John was bombed off of earth, we celebrated the death of ISIS. We were wrong. 

Every time the United States used over the top crushing force to destroy the latest identified terror group, we create a new and more dangerous group. The Bush administration was built for starting wars. These hawks had no idea, and no intent, to end these wars. Bush's folly of endless wars created the unstable and overtly dangerous ISIS. The terrorists who use a warped incorrect version of Islam as their ideology need to have a clear cut enemy. These monsters need the western world to be overtly aggressive to Islam. Charlatans like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly are some of ISIS's greatest weapons. The need to define Islam as a central problem helps ISIS to recruit. Young, unemployed, and ostracized Muslims are more receptive to the idea of hating the west when the popular media of the west preaches hate towards Islam. When innocent Muslim families are destroyed in a drone strike intended for a few terrorists the idea of the west as the enemy starts to take hold. When the U.S. can justify the killing of innocents in the name of global security, ISIS will use the killing of innocents as an equal method of war. If ISIS was able to wipe an entire US city off the map because a military base was close by, the world would scream in horror. When we kill innocents because they unfortunately live close to terrorist bases, the monsters gain sympathy. Our fear and anger is delivering new, desperate, recruits to the terrorists. 

The monsters of ISIS caused over 400 casualties in Paris. So far 129 innocent people have died. The French government over the weekend bombed known ISIS strongholds in Syria. Innocent families were undoubtedly killed in these bombing runs. Here in the United States we continue to bang the drums of war. Hillary Clinton regrettably used the specter of terrorism to justify donations to her presidential campaign from Wall Street billionaires. Egoist Donald Trump ramped up his hate filled campaign for President of the United States by telling the nation he would consider shutting down mosques he deems dangerous. Failing republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is using the attacks to try and jump start his fading campaign. The rest of the republican field is falling all over each other to blame President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and anyone else their followers hate. Hours after the attacks, the US political class was screaming for more war. The media was demanding the current crop of presidential candidates to come up with a plan to destroy these terrorists. We were angry, we need to smash.

Smashing everything in our path is not a solution. Terrorism needs to end. Peace is the natural evolution of humanity, and terrorism is causing us to not evolve. To honor the innocents of terror, we should not create more terrorism. Killing Saddam, Bin Laden, Jihadi John, and a number of other monsters did not end terrorism. Killing children and families has increased the perception of the West wanting to destroy Islam. The media feeds the terrorists when they cheer on war. The political class emboldens the terrorists when they argue over what words we should use to describe the monsters. The need for the right wing to alienate all Muslims is making fighting terrorism much more difficult. Our past and current course of action feeds terrorism. We need a new plan. We need a global community to end terrorism. Paris should be the wake up call. Terrorism has turned us into a rampaging monster. Peace will bring us calm.

Stand with Paris, and with Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, anywhere else terrorism and war has touched. Stand proud and demand peace. Terrorism will end when we refuse to be the monster. Peace will prevail when we learn to not be the Hulk.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. His opinions are strong, but really needs your strength. Write for SeedSing. 

The Government is Keeping Us off of Mars

This is the only rocket NASA can afford.

Do you know who Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornieko are?

Do you know who Alan Shepard and Yuri Gagarin are? (I really hope you do.)

What about Neil Armstrong, does his name ring a bell?

How about Mark Watney, I am going to assume you have heard of him?

According to my basic internet / personal polling research most people know that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, Yuri Gagarin was the first person in space, Alan Shepard was the first American in space, and Mark Watney is a fictional character who is stranded on Mars. Most people have no idea who Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornieko are, and that is a huge shame. 

Astronaut Kelly and Cosmonaut Kornieko are just past the half way point of a year long mission on board the International Space Station. One of the goals of this mission is to determine what prolonged time in space does to the human body. Kelly and Kornieko volunteered to be human guinea pigs in our quest to travel farther into space, first stop Mars. Read all about their amazing mission here.

Andy Weir's sci-fi novel The Martian (and the recent Ridley Scott Film based on the book) tell the story of Mark Watney and how he survives on Mars when he is accidentally left behind (read this book, it is outstanding). The story is filled with real scientific scenarios based on the ideas we have about the hospitality of Mars.  The realism of the book help make it, and the movie, a huge hit. It is not out of the realm of possibility to think that we could make a manned mission to Mars in the near future. There are still some very large issues to figure out, like how are we going to stop our Mars explorers from being cooked alive by radiation. We are working to figure out these problems, and the first human steps on a different planet are forthcoming. Humanity is on the verge if interplanetary travel.

The biggest leap of faith in Weir's book is the idea that NASA is well funded enough to support the cost of manned Mars missions. Americans always seem excited about the possibility of space travel, yet our government never has the will to commit money to the endeavor. The budget to run all of NASA in 2015 was approximately $885 million. The US congress has spent $5 million (and counting) on their admitted politically motivated Benghazi committee.  The US house has spent northwards of $75 million trying to repeal Obamacare. The pointless never ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost at least $4 trillion, and that does not account for the medical care returning veterans will require. There have been billions of unaccounted for money the US has distributed all over Iraq and Afghanistan. A manned mission to Mars is estimated to cost around $100 billion. The point is that our government balks at the price tag for manned space exploration, yet they have no problem wasting money on politically motivated pet issues and other forms of fraud. The latest tea party hero, Jim Jordan of Ohio, costs the taxpayers around $120 million every year so his district can continue to manufacture tanks that the Army does not want. The fiscal conservatives halt NASA and our future, yet waste untold amounts of money on things that do not advance humanity.

Our government's lack of investment in space exploration contributes to the public's dismissive attitude about current space explorers. What Gagarin and Shepard did was dangerous and unknown. What Armstrong did was dangerous and inspiring. What Kelly, Kornieko, and all current space travelers do is dangerous and vital to our future. Mark Watney is more well known because The Martian is a great book, and the hero represents our hopes for what a future of interplanetary travel will look like. Weir's hero is dependent on what NASA has done, and will do. Our future on Mars has its genesis in what Kelly and Kornieko are doing on the International Space Station. We will get excited about Mars when we have heroes to root for. Our current astronauts are these heroes. They should be celebrated at least as much as a fictional character.

A manned mission to Mars is inspiring and necessary. People are flocking to read, and see, The Martian because it inspires hope and pride in humanity. The scientific discoveries made through the space programming are staggering. When President Kennedy told us we had ten years to land on the moon, the technology did not exist. Nine years later we landed on the moon and started a new computer revolution. We do not have the technology to walk on Mars, yet. When a strong leader emerges in our government, and we are challenged as a nation to rise up, we will see humans walk on Mars within our lifetimes. What great technical revolution will follow? Astronaut Mike Kelly and Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornieko are getting us ready to travel beyond the moon. Their work is paving the way for a future Mark Watney. We deserve to experience the awe and pride of interplanetary travel. We deserve a government that believes in the future.

Thanks to NASA.gov and Space.com for their help in my research. Seriously go read The Martian.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is wondering if Valentine Micheal Smith is waiting for us on Mars. Join the conversation by writing for SeedSing.