Wars: Conventional vs. Things and Ideas

I groaned upon hearing on Good Morning America this morning that lawmakers are declaring “war” on intelligence leaks.

My unease with declaring war on these leaks is founded on the notion that while the United States fares well in war on conventional military terms, when our leaders declare far reaching wars on ideas and concepts, it is usually, to be frank, a complete fiasco. I’m picturing a proliferation of leaks onto the front pages of America’s newspapers since war has been declared.

We’ve declared war on drugs, terror, and obesity in recent history. Yet Americans have grown fatter and more drug dependent than they were before we declared the so called war. Terrorism is impossible to ever declare a victory against, because its’ existed since the beginning of time.

Many of these mentality wars on things and ideas involve personal choice, which suggests that the intelligence community itself is misfiring. Until we identify the larger failure, this new war has little chance of success.