Yesterday's blog was very long and I cut it short for fear of putting readers to sleep. There were still things that I wanted to point out, to discuss, so I left them for today's blog, a post script to yesterday's!
I realize that it is a very depressing thought and I don't mean to be so negative, but like I already said, the sad fact is that we will be facing many more conflicts, small wars. They will be small only in a sense that they will be regional, not global like World War Two, but they will nevertheless cause much loss of life and misery to those involved. If we participate in those conflicts, we will lose American lives. The numbers won't be like they were in World War Two or Korea, nor will they be like they were in Vietnam, but they will grow in time. As early as back in the 1960s, John F. Kennedy, along with several other prominent figures predicted that the future will be filled with small wars, what they called "brushfire wars." That was one of the reasons why JFK was so keen on Army Special Forces and launched the Navy SEALs program. He felt that Special Operations units were best suited for such "brushfire wars." But what we have now is something a bit larger than just "brushfire," therefore, to successfully carry out campaigns in these new wars, we need a bit more than just Special Operations, we need the participation of conventional forces as well. Also, JFK and others thought that these "brushfire wars" would be initiated by communist movements, not Islamic Extremists as it is happening today!
Whether we participate in these conflicts, fully engaged to win, not to just "show up" and then pull out as we have done recently, will determine whether we remain as the pre-eminent super power in the world or give up that responsibility and job to Russia! I am not saying that Russia is capable of carrying out that role, in fact I doubt if they could. We are the only ones that have the means, the technology and know-how, the equipment to take on that role. However, if we are not willing, then it will fall in someone else's lap, in this case, the most likely candidate will be Russia. China is the only other country in the world that could take on that role, but I don't believe they are interested or willing to do so. Despite China's dramatic military built-up in the last decade, China is more interested in dominating the world economically than militarily. At this point, unlike the former Soviet Union, China is not even interested in promoting their brand of communism! They built up and are still building up their military to protect their economic power, that is what they are doing, not for some sinister purpose of world domination through military might. China is doing quite well dominating the world economy without the need of warfare, they are truly following the principles of Sun Tzu's The Art of War - that is to avoid war if you can dominate in other ways!
Our politicians, for the most part, will not do anything to upset their constituency because, for one thing, they want to be re-elected. Another reason, of course, is that they are supposed to represent the interests of their voters. If the American voters are unwilling to have America engage in these wars, lose American lives, then our politicians will vote against any participation and we will not be engaged. That is one of the problems we have today, our politicians are trying to strike a middle ground, appear to be doing "something" yet not risk American lives and thereby risk their own political lives. So, there is a lot of talk, lot of saber-rattling by some politicians, but nothing is really getting done. No one really has any true plan on how to approach the problem of defeating ISIS or any other Islamic Terrorist group! So, blame is not entirely on the politicians, the American public has to bear some responsibility as well for it is the public that drives the actions of he politicians.
Are we, as Americans, willing to face the fact that there will be American lives lost if we engage in war to truly destroy our enemy? Are we prepared for a long protracted warring period? A century is not out of question! I know that with all the new technology, scientific advancements in everything from medicine to driverless cars and space travel, we should be able to figure out a way to live peacefully, like the old Coke commercial, "live in harmony." But the truth is, that despite all of the talk of Utopian society and the hippy movement of the 1960s which was partially responsible for our failure in Vietnam, human beings will continue to have wars. As long as there are those who are "haves" and others that are "have nots," there will be wars. Right now, despite enormous wealth found in some societies, the vast majority of the world population belongs in the "have not" column! Just think about it! In the Islamic world, where all of the current problems seem to be originating, we have countries such as Qatar whose population earns an average income of over $100,000 per year! Yet in the same Islamic world, in Palestine or in one of the many scattered refugee camps, there are families surviving on a couple of hundred dollars a year! The gulf is not just great, it is obscene!
America, after World War Two, became the richest country in the world. Everyone envied our wealth, good life. This envy quickly transformed into hatred in many cases. We became not only the most envied, but the most hated country, or I should say culture, in the world! Think about it, just about everything associated with good life, after World War Two, originated in America! We had the biggest and best cars (I know, some European cars were considered tops, like English Rolls-Royce, etc., but overall, it was always American cars), everyone tried to copy. The popular music of young people, Rock and Roll, was invented and originated in America! The denim jeans, the fast foods, movies, TV, just about everything you can think of in popular culture had its beginning in America. For most around the world, the good life meant living like an American. To this day, everywhere you find people wearing NBA or NFL T shirts, hats. Hip-Hop, Rap, everything came from America, even the awful grungy look that used to be so popular with young people not too long ago!
Envy, in many cases can quickly become hatred, and in our case, many of our initial admirers became some of our most dedicated haters! With many of the members of the Islamic nations, things got all jumbled and we became the focus of their hatred, the reason for their misery! Small wonder Iran calls us the "Great Satan," and ISIS/ISIL refers to us as "Rome," that ancient civilization that fell, mainly owning to its own corruption, lack of morals and hedonistic life style.
Many in America say to hell with everyone else, to hell with the Europeans who consider themselves superior to us because they say we lack "culture." To hell with Middle East and its oil, we don't need it! Why don't we just close our borders and live as isolationists. Well, that won't work and there are just too many reasons for me to go into that! So then, the other option would be to withdraw from being the world leader, let Russians make a mess of everything or whoever else takes over. Well, that won't work either! The world has become too interconnected, too interdependent for anyone to just create their own desert island, a Utopia in the middle of the ocean! Islamic Terrorists or their sympathizers (our own homegrown variety), will continue to crop up and commit mayhem on our shores even if we "withdraw!" We can "withdraw" but we won't escape terror attacks nor eliminate hatred for us, our way of life.
On this morning's CNN news, the Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S. was interviewed and he assured the reporter that the recent "victory" in Ramadi will soon be followed with "victories" elsewhere and ISIS will be ousted from Iraq. Well, I sure hope so. If Iraqis manage to do it on their own with only our air support, great! I will be very surprised, but let's face it, nothing is impossible! But that will not be the end. ISIS is just the latest incarnation of the "have nots" with a special hatred for America. Remember? Before ISIS there was Al Qaeda, and before.....the list goes on and on. ISIS is just a name....if they are gone, there will be others! This new century, I am afraid, will see many more incarnations of different terror groups, all seemingly set on destroying America and American way of life.
The hatred for us and our way of life was born out of envy, jealousy, possibly one of the strongest if not the strongest human emotions. Only love supposedly is stronger, but that is debatable, since love can turn to hatred as well!
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