The hypocrisy of the war on terror is rarely talked about in main stream media. The very idea of a war against terrorism implies an endless, borderless conflict in which the only guarantee is the loss of life. In a supposed attempt to extinguish terrorism, U.S. bombs continue to drop in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Often times, carried out by covert drone operations, these lethal and frequently inaccurate air strikes rip families apart and enrage those living nearby. While some of these drone strikes do take out terrorists, Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara stresses in his documentary “Fog of War,” to “empathize with your enemy”.

Having gone through World War II, the Cold War, and Vietnam, McNamara has had a lot of experience trying to understand what drives our opponents.

Unfortunately, Americans are fed a barrage of images depicting radical Muslims condemning the United States and western society. We feel the hatred and it scares us, but we don’t understand where this anger is coming from. This is where McNamara’s lesson can be applied.

Imagine sitting in the car waiting for your dad to take you to school. A group of men walk by carrying what from a distance looks like a weapon. As they come closer you notice it’s just a camera with a large lens but it’s too late. A drone flying overhead has already engaged. In an instant the group of men goes up in smoke and the explosions rock the car you’re sitting in, flipping it over. You are severely injured, your father is dead, and not one member of the group is left alive. Unfortunately, this has actually happened.

Exposed by WikiLeaks in a video titled “Collateral Murder”, the images shown depict these actual events in Iraq in 2007.

Jeremy Scahill, the investigative journalist responsible for the Oscar nominated documentary “Dirty Wars” said, “We’ve made more new enemies in the Islamic word, than we have gained allies as a result of the Drone bombings.” With an astounding 130,000 innocents killed in Iraq alone since the invasion of 2003, it is easy to understand why. As the bombs continue to explode, consequently so does the call for revenge.

Now think back to the horrific events of September 11th. How did the American public react? Understandably they wanted those responsible to pay for their crimes, but are the reactions of the Islamic world any different?

Fighting fire with fire only spreads the inferno. “We don’t hear anything about the ‘real’ widows of Baghdad, but we know everything about the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Scahill said.

Scahill’s words illuminate one of the core problems in trying to understand the ongoing conflict. Television networks simply aren’t covering the other perspective.

So what then is the solution? One of the leading intellectuals in the United States, Professor Noam Chomsky has stated the simplest answer to this complex issue: “Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it.”