US policies make terrorism a growth industry

R. Bruce St. John examines how Bush's approach to fighting terrorism has exacerbated the threat in an article for FPIF. He concludes:

The Bush administration has yet to recognize that the outcome of the war on terrorism will depend on the quality of the peace. By ruling out the peaceful settlement of disputes in Iraq, Palestine, and elsewhere, the White House has not eliminated terrorism. It has provoked it. And it has also legitimized terrorism in many parts of the world. A cursory survey of global terrorist activity reveals an incredibly wide array of distinct and interconnected motives. With a growing number of groups declaring the U.S. their number one enemy, the war on terror could last for generations, if we don’t take a different tactic. Until we do, the world in the coming weeks, months, and years will likely remain a very dangerous place.

Make no mistake: the poorly defined and purposefully vague "war on terrorism" is a part of the problem, not the solution.

Until those long maligned "root causes" are addressed, and the US stops shoving American hegemony down the rest of the world's throat under the cover of its "war on terrorism," the number of groups engaged in "asymmetric warfare" will multiply.