When President Bush called on Americans to enlist in his “war on terror,” very few citizens could have grasped the global consequences of this proposal. The terrifying events of September 11 were like a blinding flash, numbing the country with a sudden awareness of unimaginable dangers. Strong action was recommended, skeptics were silenced, and a slight sense of unity emerged from shared vulnerabilities. Nearly three years later, the enormity of Bush's call for unlimited "war" is more evident. It overwhelmed the country and actually disrupted the normal processes and goals of society with a brilliantly seductive political message: terror prevails over all else. What this president actually accomplished was restarting the Cold War, albeit under a new rubric. The supporting facts are different and more modest, but the ideological dynamic is remarkably similar: a total commitment of the nation's energies to confronting a vast, invisible, and malevolent adversary. Fanatical Muslims have replaced the Soviet Communists, and like the Reds, these enemies could be anywhere, including among us (they may not even be Muslims, but related agents who also "hate" us). » and oppose our values). Like that of the Cold War, the logic of this new organizing framework can be extremely compelling to the popular imagination because it is based on fear. -the public's growing fear of potential dangers. Political fear of commodities has no practical limits. The government has the capacity to manufacture more. Nor is there an obvious ceiling on how much the nation must devote – in JFK's famous phrase – “to pay any price, to bear any burden” in defense of freedom and of the homeland. Long after the Soviet Union was recognized as a failed middle of paper, Bush's war in Iraq is a good place to start, because citizens raised real questions that were brushed aside. I don't think most Americans are interested in imperial rule, but they have been grossly misled by patriotic rhetoric. Now is the time for sober, serious lessons that lay out the true story of American power in the world and also explain the positive and progressive future that is possible. Once citizens have constructed a lucid and dissident version of our situation, politicians can perhaps also be freed from exaggerated fear. The self-imposed destruction that flows from Bush's logic cannot be stopped until a new group of leaders arise to guide the country. This transformation begins with a change of president and government to hear the American people and know that WE are responsible..