Many Central and South American governments are being and have been targeted by America as objects of its now age old and publicly demonized “War on Drugs.” Many of these governments have been singled out by America as cooperators in the production or trafficking of drugs. Now America has started a new war: a war on terrorism. Many of the aforementioned governments have withstood the half-hearted efforts of the “War on Drugs,” but now the question arises, will they withstand the more widely supported “War on Terrorism?” Before this question can be answered, several sub-questions must be answered.
The main one is this: can any of these governments be considered terrorist? The most authoritative answer to this question would come from the people who live under these governments (Joel, 2004). They have suffered under oppressive and militaristic regimes for decades. The war on drugs has done nothing to displace these governments, but has only further muddled the lives of those living under them. Now that an international war on terrorism is in the works, the people who live in these countries are turning to the US and pointing fingers at their governments, saying, “these are terrorists.” While they may not pose a terrorist threat to the US directly, they do act as terrorists towards their citizens.
Does this concern the US then? Is it the place of the US in its growing “War on Terrorism” to only focus on a particular form of terrorism, or is the mission of the war really as President Bush said, to wipe terrorism from the face of the earth, period? Supporters of America’s “War on Terrorism,” such as Israel, seem to think the latter, as its obvious interest in any “War on Terrorism” would be to stop Palestinian terrorism within its borders (Joel, 2004).....
