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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Time to be unpopular



War drums are beating. Revenge is in order for the events in Paris.

I am not a pacifist. On a personal level I'm well armed and prepared to defend me and mine. However I've a very bad feeling on where things are heading.

Anyone remember how well our response to 911 worked out? Two wars? Hundreds of thousands of lives lost? American liberties curtailed? It begs the question: who's going to benefit from a wider war?

Eighty percent of all conflicts end with a negotiated settlement. Only 20% are decided by total military victory. Why then is the negotiated path in such disfavor? I suspect total military victory is more satisfying somehow. It's the old eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. However, relying on outdated religious texts for guidance isn't the best solution for people of any religion.

There's room for negotiation in significant areas of the Syrian conflict. Of course, the Islamic State with their whole idea of a Caliphate is something else entirely. Dealing with them will take some of the same techniques that are used to deal with a fanatical cult. Force will be part of it but force alone won't do the job. Another part will be busting the myths that motivate their fanatical followers. Their fighters believe they are part of something special ordained by god. That is both a strength and a weakness.

It's a strength but only while events on the ground follow their myths. Sow doubt in the minds of the warriors and the so called Caliphate could fall apart quickly. It's far from an impossible task. They are operating from a 7th century handbook for goodness sake. We should have learned a few new tricks since then.

Break up the Islamic State, establish peace on the ground, and the refugees flooding Europe can all go home. That should be enough motivation right there.

Of course, many people want to just nuke the heck out of them. Yeah, that would work, but what kind of people would that make us? Too stupid to find a solution without killing everyone and turning whole countries into nuclear wastelands?

We are better than that, aren't we?

-Sixbears

15 comments:

  1. Most ordinary people are, I hope. But politicians? I can't say I am very hopeful they are anywhere near finding a solution. A peaceful solution I mean.

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    1. It can happen. Ireland is a lot more peaceful than it's been in hundreds of years. Not everything is perfect, but life is better.

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  2. Understand and agree about 75%.

    Don't really care '...what kind of people that makes us', and thank God the greatest generation didn't care about that either before Hiroshima and Nagasaki 'transformed' another 'death cult.'

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    1. The Islamic State is not Imperial Japan and this isn't WWII. You don't squash a bug with a sledge hammer.

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  3. But this bug is pretty nasty, Sixbears. I don't agree with Obama that "they don't care if they die, so there's not much we can do", but I don't know what the solution is. We have enough illegal aliens as it is, and don't need those who cannot be even remotely verified and have no clue as to our way of life, except that they have been told it is an infidel way. I'm not ready for WW3.

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    1. I'm not against force, but it has to be the right kind of force applied in the right manner. Bombing civilians creates more enemies than it kills.

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  4. We are greatly guilty also for 'nuking', aren't we? Basically greed, the almighty dollar, CONTROL. Situations today and always been just another link in the chain for one world order. No one heeding the sheep bleating.

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    1. If this was a functioning democracy I'd feel some responsibility for my government's actions, but my word has little power.

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    2. same here. hope peoples of the world realize we have little response from our 'representatives' no matter how many letters we write to them.

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  5. Powerful forces in Washington are determined to bring down Putin and the Russian Federation, once and for all.They don't care that Russia has a nuclear capability equal to our own. They believe that Ameria's Manifest Destiny is to run this planet and destroy those who don't go along with it. A look around the Middle East at all the places that we have bombed is the proof of this attitude. It isn't Russia doing it. How dare the Russians place their borders so close to our missiles and bases?
    This latest atrocity from ISIS, who we along with the Saudi's helped setup, is tailor made to fire up public opinion and to help sound the war tocsin for action. Get a bunch of countries soldiers and forces in the same small area and sparks are bound to fly, especially when one side has such contempt for the other. I fear we may be as close to a world war as one can get. Some folks believe that we are in an undeclared world war right now, the opening stages. They may be right.

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    1. They may be right about this being an undeclared world war right now. Not looking good. Those who want to pull back from the edge get shouted down.

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  6. Of course, Islam didn't even exist when god was giving out rules to the Jews and Christians.

    We are stuck with a first edition of that holy book. Time to get the new and updated one.

    You know, someone's going to take me seriously and I'll be in trouble . . . again . . . some more.

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  7. I didn't feel good about the purposed solution after 9/11 and the current one is a continuation of that one. Can we say, "Vietnam." I thought we could.

    It is a quagmire we can not fix. They have been fighting each other and everybody else since the Sumerians started recording history.

    Until moderate Muslims tell the fanatics to knock it off AND take action, will things change. It has to take place internally within their religion. I can't help them. All I can do is protect myself and my own from their mental health problems; just like I do from the fanatics in Christendom.

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    1. We all must do what we can to take care of our own.

      Much of the Middle East mess dates back to WWI. Before that it was a relatively peaceful part of the world. The "Great Powers" botched the job.

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  8. Well, okay, the ANCESTORS of the muslims! lol

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