Better take off that red coat.
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”–the Countess in William Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well.
........
An attack on international airlines was foiled in London today.
The U.S. Army used to have a recruiting campaign that profiled soldiers and tagged each as “An Army of One.” I don’t think the American armed forces are the best representatives of one-person militaries. The terrorist attacks on Western nations in the last five years are the real picture of encountering a million “Armies of One.” There is no proven way to win.
It reminds me of the Revolutionary War. The British stood in proper battle formation while colonists picked them off with arrows from the trees. The systems of war changed again with World War I. Automatic weapons and war-by-air completely replaced the musket raids of the Spanish American and Civil Wars. Then nuclear war- superpowers threatening to flip the light switch on each other. And now it is all changing again.
The new systems of war target civilians and are driven by small, politically removed factions of extremists. Whether we like it or not, this is the way that battles are manifesting in the 21st century. I don’t mean to suggest that the West should respond with similar military schemes, but it seems it would be worth investing in the social aid and policy issues that affect the hearts of these independent armies. Perhaps carefully thought diplomacy might shift some of the work into the hands of nations closer to the source of the driving ideologies. And it probably wouldn't cost as much as bombs.
posted by Erin 3:05 PM
3 Comments:
Great thoughts JR!
Just for the record- I thought about the bow and arrow thing. The colonists may have used them to some extent. I put it in because I didn't want to use the word "musket" twice in a row. :) That's the truth.
Do you ever get tired of only having these conversations by typing? It just takes all of the passion out of debates. It would be nice to have a real conversation about the Middle East Conflict with someone that doesn't necessarily agree with me. Hmmmm. . . watch out JR, we may have some role playing this weekend. :)You get to be the Devil's advocate this time!
Ahhhh.... History and perspective. Thus, since traditional history (at least that taught in most schools & colleges) is written by the victors, I suggest that everyone read some Howard Zinn.
But, as JR implies, it can be quite fun to engage in some musings about alternative history. What if the South had won the Civil War? What if the Ottomans had not been defeated at Vienna? What if Alexander the Great had died of a mysterious fever? What if Napoleon (or for that matter, Hitler) had not been defeated by the Russian Winter?
Makes you wonder what our world would really look like?
However, I do sympathize with Jessica. In the hyper-polarized
political culture we have here in America, it's quite hard to find truly intelligent & informed discourse & debate upon any given topic. Talk shows either a) preach to the choir in a sociable fashion, or b) yell at their choir about the evils of the "other choir". It's quite sad really....
2006 Mid-Term Elections here we come!!
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