“Barring a miracle (for which we all must pray), this nation is going to war.”
An interesting sentiment from someone who is committed to disarming that Iraqi wingnut. For my part, I don’t think we ought to pray for peace. Matter of fact, I’m not even all that convinced that war is a terrible thing. Destro said it best, “War is man’s most natural state: the fittest survive and the greatest technological advances are made.” There’s lots to argue with in that statement but the basic premise is true, war is man’s most natural state. Ever read philosophy? Show me a philosopher who doesn’t continually wrestle with the essential conflict of life. Talked to a teenager lately or watched one of those woefully bad John Hughes 80s flicks? Same same. Everything is war and everybody dies eventually.
That being said, I think it is absolutely imperative we go to war in the Middle East. I don’t care if we invade Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, etc. It’s utterly irrelavant who we invade and occupy as long as we do it to someone. Iraq is top of the list because it’s the most immediate threat to us but it really doesn’t make any difference. The mission is to wipe out these pipsqueak, bass-ackwards, paleo-political semi-states. That goes for all of them. Once Iraq falls, Iran will topple. Then we’ll be able to put serious pressure on Saudi Arabia. Once they’re out of the way the other little hangers-on states will get the idea. Will this accomplish anything towards ending the War on Terrorism? Absolutely not. It may even make it worse. Will we all be better off in the long run? Absolutely.
And so the question is that which I have asked myself so many times: If you’re such a big fan of war and so perfectly willing to sacrifice the lives of tens of thousands of people around the world, why haven’t you ever served in the military?
The answer is simple, until now Uncle Sam didn’t need me. Now, I’m getting a bit long in the tooth but rest assured, if we were to suffer a setback in the Middle East but our resolve remained strong and more men were needed to do the fighting and dying – I’d be the first in line to sign up. This is that important. Bollocks to all the talk of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and so forth. What the war is about is a Pax Americana. We’re going in to get the rats out of their holes and make the world safe for us. Period.
And Africa’s next, dammit.
On another, less strident note, tomorrow marks the first anniversary of this little WWW recording device. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Probably said some things that will come back to haunt me (see above) but it’s been a laugh.