‘War on terror’ is folly as violence begets violence

In his State of the Union address, US President Barack Obama vowed to “relentlessly hunt down terrorists” (“Obama vows to hunt down terrorists and help the poor”; January 21). He will continue the US’s ‘War On Terror’, a cure more deadly than the disease.

Atrocities and violence provoke violent responses; responses that rarely have the desired effects.

The number of civilians killed by Western military in Iraq and Afghanistan far outnumber those killed by terror and the Western response also increased the numbers committed to violence.