http://www.theglobalist.com/united-states-war-on-global-terrorism/

Americans’ Moby Dick: The 21st Century Edition

The “War On Terror” is entering its 16th year. But why does it have such a hold over Americans’ lives, culture and politics?

By Michael J. Brenner, January 10, 2017

Takeaways

• America’s “war on terror” has become our national mission for restoration.
• The memory of 9/11 is what grieves us. It inflames our collective passion for vengeance.
• Americans have embraced the post-9/11 trauma rather than exorcised it. That is the purpose of the “war on terror.”
• Putin is but the projection of our own existential dread.
• The spectral persona who haunts our minds, “Putin” has no objective existence.

America’s “Global War on Terror” (GWOT) consumes hundreds of billions annually. It has spawned an entire industry that embraces millions of workers.
These range from intelligence/ security consultants to academics and film to the 70,000 men and women of Special Operations Command who today are fighting the war in 38 countries.
The War on Terror also mobilizes most of the 834,000 persons who are granted “Top Secret” national security clearances. “Terrorism” and “Counter-Terrorism” labels are sure-fire attention getters used to promote all manner of causes.
At a deeper level, the nation’s very psyche has been possessed by this abnormal obsession. The consequences are profound.

Moby Dick: No longer just literature http://www.theglobalist.com/united-states-war-on-global-terrorism/