Second front for ‘war on terror’?

Tired of hearing Republicans say that Democrats never bring anything new to the table; that they never have any ideas of their own and all that they do is criticize and obstruct progress? Frankly, a positive vision of the future that ends the “War on Terror” has not been on the tongues of the leadership of either party.

Our country is in a spiral of continuous military conflict. Anti-American terrorism is spreading because of our country’s oil dependency. In spite of our usage of over 25 percent of worldwide oil resources by only 5 percent of the population, we defend the “right” of U.S. access to oil in unfriendly regions of the world with displays of military domination, a la’ the Carter Doctrine and Bush’s pre-emptive wars, and wonder why we are so hated globally.

How can we solve the long-term problem of terrorism without the consequent costs in tax dollars and American blood?

There is a better way to bring long-term stability to the world, by dealing aggressively with the underlying causes of terrorism. Call it the “second front” in the war on terrorism; a new paradigm in which poverty, hunger, malnutrition, communicable diseases, illiteracy, pollution, climate change, (equal) human rights of men and women, promotion of global stewardship, equitable distribution of natural resources and the development of sustainable energy and water resources are the main objectives. The strategies to address those objectives are the “second front.”

We can eliminate hunger and most communicable disease. We can help to improve the quality of life for people living in squalid conditions around the world and we must reduce our excessive use of the world’s diminishing resources.

Currently, we have an environment of fear, escalating world violence, terrorism and worldwide distrust of Americans. We have preemptive wars against sovereign nations and no plan for eventual withdrawal of troops. The prospect of military conflict in many parts of the world into the foreseeable future of foreign oil dependency is a bloody dead end.

It is time for a powerful new vision of hope; a foreign policy platform focused on addressing the common enemies of all humanity; poverty, disease, hunger, natural disaster and global climate change. The new paradigm would consist of strategically placed enterprises with other nations, consistent with the World Millennium Goals of the United Nations, that undermine the message of terror organizations by improving humanitarian conditions in key areas of the world.

The unsustainable cost of ongoing warfare and escalating fuel costs to Americans are sapping all our resources. Our depleted national treasury cannot properly care of our own poor, our elderly and our own victims of national disasters. All of us must think seriously about leading lower energy use lifestyles.

Lower oil use represents an eventual exit strategy from war. It gets us out of the world’s policeman role and puts us into the position of humanitarian and environmental role model. The world’s current view is one of America as permanent schoolyard bully, taking the resources of the world by force.

The new vision could be one of American leadership in the cause of peace. Democrats and Republicans alike need to embrace a second (non- military) front on the “war on terrorism.”

Dominick H. Parisi is innkeeper of the Goose Cove Lodge in Deer Isle.