An army is not a criminal organization — at least, it shouldn't be, and in a civilized nation there is a clear distinction. Likewise, war isn't the same as police activity. The difference isn't simply a matter of scale.

Does the current "war on terrorism" therefore miss the mark? How would public policy be altered if terrorists were treated as perpetrators of crimes rather than as enemy soldiers? And if the whole "war" metaphor were discarded would people then, on both sides of the conflict, think and react differently?

(see also SocialRobustness (17 May 2000), ToProtectAndToServe (11 Sep 2001), ... )

TopicSociety - TopicJustice - 2004-01-08

(correlates: ThoughtfulMetaphors, PersonalResponsibility, FourthGradeTwerp, ...)