As to the "war on terror", or the "war on fanaticism", or however we wish to term it (I'll just call it "the gwot"), the problem is not merely the name, but (as others have noted before) the fact that the concept is so vague as to be meaningless (or alternatively, so capable of being arbitrarily applied). This fact has multiple implications; unfortunately, none of them have any relevance to reducing the frequency of fanaticism-motivated attacks. The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
It's interesting what associations different people have to figures of speech. Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. — Euripides
There was a war in Iraq. There was a war in Afghanistan. Now there are occupations, insurgencies and civil wars in both places.
I think perhaps you did yourself a disservice by citing the Tagesspiegel article, because it is (IMO) little more than a puff piece about Fischer, with no serious analysis and few actual facts (except perhaps the "rolling of the eyes" in the first sentence).
Specifically, it does not explain what Fischer means by "Don't feed the beast"; this is merely the closing tagline. This vacuum certainly facilitated my association.
More generally, we are all judged by the quality of our metaphors, and people like Fischer moreso. The scorn that W received for talking about a "crusade" was entirely justified. I personally would have hoped that Fischer would have been savvy enough to avoid this kind of pitfall. The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
Metaphors are not neutral and I fault Fischer for painting the problem as a "beast". Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. — Euripides
He would probably agree with your mosquito-swarm metaphor.
Both you could read his piece in the NYT, linked to in the diary to see clarify his position.
