The World in Conflict

Is the modern world facing another global war? If we look at a world map there are indeed conflicts in many geographical areas, whether fueled by territory expansion or so-called religious confrontations. The Middle East is the first obvious theater but Africa has its ominous share of pitiless rebels.

I don't have to travel to Rome or Moscow or even the embattled Syria to see whatever is happening. I know for example that Afghanistan, among others, is truly a very primitive nation; all I have to do is watch the news about the Taliban shooting female school children to know the area is still living in the Dark Ages.

Children from the Zarghona Ana High School watch members of Afghan National Security Force and Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team prepare for the Kandahar Nursing and Midwifery Institute grand opening ceremony in 2012. (Wikipedia)

In the good old world during the Cold War, we knew clearly who the enemy was and what consequences a new conflict would bring to everybody, that is, death by radiation poisoning. Cooler heads fortunately prevailed but the seeds of religious wars - if we believe some pundits - were sown on fertile grounds. 

The invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops between 1979 and 1989 resulted not only in their ignominious  defeat and retreat, it also armed the future Al Qaeda and Talibans while providing them with a good supply of young volunteers. Few people want to remember civilian casualties in that forsaken country which some analysts tag at 1.5 million and that was before the American intervention in 2001. The continuous presence of western military has inflamed jihadists in Muslim countries and fostered the appearance of the cruel and pitiless ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Their flag: Top phrase means 'there is no god but Allah' and bottom 'Muhammad is his messenger'.

What if a time machine had allowed fanatical Muslims from the 11th century to travel to modern Iraq? They would behave much the same way these ISIL fighters carry on beheadings and massacres against the non-believers. The main difference is of course modern weapons, including, strangely enough, social media and the Internet.

Are these modern Arab fighters really fighting for their religion? Do we witness a resurgence of religious wars so common throughout history? In my modest opinion. no. 

Power has always been the pretext to start a conflict, whether disguised as religion or economics. The same holds true for these Muslim warriors, at least for their leaders. Educated tyrants and demagogues know fully well that the masses need a believable cause to risk their lives. Ignorance is the fertile ground upon which extremist preachers cultivate the homicidal passion against Western culture and religions. Most of the ISIL soldiers have never read the Koran, if they can read at all. Skillful brain washing will convince them to give their lives to the 'holy' cause with eternal rewards in the afterlife.

The solution for the West? A long protracted conflict that will end in inevitable defeat for ISIL (Sunni) who face not only European soldiers but also Arab Shiite fighters from Iran and other Muslim countries. It makes for some strange bedfellows: Iran and Russia allied with Europe and America for example. The common phrase 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' never rang so true.

This Mighty Nation

My four years in the U.S. Army (1960-1964), 2nd Armored Division headquartered at Fort Hood of tragic remembrance, were to polish my knowledge of English through my cussing master sergeant and my foul-mouthed comrades-in-arms, i.e., I learned the bottom level of Shakespeare's idiom.

Compared to today's armament, our rifles and our tanks were primitive relics of WWII and yet became the main deterrent to the 40 Soviet tank divisions massed at the border between East and West Germany. This tense situation had a side benefit for me as I was sent twice to an area close to Frankfurt from which I easily traveled to Switzerland to see my folks. That was the last time I talked to my father who already suffered from an incurable cancer.

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The Cold War ended in 1991 (historians may dispute this date) when I was still living in Mexico teaching French and English to the locals. The general feeling of dislike among the Mexican population towards the United States was tempered by a need, yes, an urgent need to buy American products. The Mexican goods suffered from deplorable quality. Thus we took frequent trips to the border where we happily stocked on food, clothing, and even electrical appliances. There were two customs checkpoints at the time on the Mexican side, a limited obstacle to our contraband items. I sometimes 'forgot' a twenty-dollar bill (or higher depending on the size and quantity of the goods) on the driver seat of my car and passed the inspection without problems. Hey, it was a national custom which helped the poor agents who made a miserable salary. I still see the 'mordida' as a necessary evil!

The residents of the Rio Grande Valley know full well that their economy would suffer greatly without the constant influx of Mexican buyers. The recent devaluation of the peso, one of many in the past, has hurt the building industry the most, though special holidays like Easter still see a large number of Mexican plates in the valley's commercial parking lots. Political borders often become business opportunities in which both countries benefit, a factor that Mr. Trump and Sen. Cruz blissfully ignore. Many industries would lose essential manpower, for example in food production, agriculture, personal services, and construction among others, if the 14 or so millions of illegal aliens were suddenly ejected from our country. Many important and rich politicians have been known to hire undocumented immigrants to service their mansions and businesses. Who benefits the most? Everybody.

It is a truism that Washington politicians will never 'fix' the immigration problem even though this nation's might wouldn't exist without these hard working folks. Our bickering Congress is too busy kissing the hands of lobbyists to actually pass meaningful and beneficial legislation that would solve this particular problem.

Yet, we strive as the most powerful nation on Earth even with inept senators and congressmen. That says a lot about the real hero: the ordinary people of this mighty country who sweat bullets to chase the elusive American Dream.

The Black Hole

I have lived most of my life in two American countries, Mexico and the United States. Yes, Mexicans can answer truthfully that they are also Americans when questioned at the port of entry, though immigration agents in the U.S. do not find this amusing. It is not Mexico's fault that the Founding Fathers neglected to christen this part of the American continent with a proper name; it could have been Columbia as a nod to Christopher's role, or maybe New England, since we owe them culture and language, or Jeffersonland, or Washingtonland, but no, they decided to keep the United States moniker which other countries are also using.

Born as a democratic institution in 1789, the US quickly became a beacon of hope for millions of immigrants, especially from Europe where wars and tyrants were ravaging the old continent. We thus inherited a handful of new cultures which clashed initially with the established Anglos, white Anglos, though from what I have learned recently the German language came very close to being adopted instead. Just consider the nefarious consequences during the two World Wars had this glorious nation agreed to speak 'Deutsch'. One shudders at the idea of this country praising Hitler and/or the Kaiser; a few thousand Americans did so, unfortunately, some of them quite famous.

Luckily for the modern world, America got rid of two major threats, the Nazis and the Soviet Union, though one could very well add the Nippon empire. Unfortunately, a third major danger appeared at the beginning of the XXI century, ISIS. Yes, one can argue that Washington had something to do with the rise of these pitiless extremists by needlessly invading Iraq. But History cannot be changed and we are paying the price nowadays. The solution will take many years and many lives on all sides, but the US cannot ignore this modern scourge as it threatens most western societies. No, it is not a War of Religions as some politicians claim; psychotic fanatics exist in all faiths and dealing with them on such scale can only be done one way, as they have shown that neither diplomacy nor reason can prevail.

Yes, a black hole can be a good metaphor for ISIS since they don't allow the light of common sense and humanity to shine.

Freedom From Repression...To A Point

As an immigrant living in the most powerful nation of the world, the United States of America, I can appreciate its political model of republicanism and democracy. My own country of origin, of which I am still a citizen, is the Swiss Confederation also known as Switzerland. It has a long history of granting freedoms to its citizens and served as an inspiration for some of the Founding Fathers in America.

Thus, I have never known the horrors of cruel dictatorships for which I am thankful to Fate as only an agnostic can be.

After being educated in the French culture for 15 years, my views of the world were somewhat naive, that is, I saw nations as black or white. My own country was of course among the pure white, a reference to political freedoms, not race, while others such as the Soviet Union was essentially black after reading the remarkable book called "Escape to Liberty" by a Russian dissident whose name I have long ago forgotten.

Of course, 50 years later, my first innocent opinions have transformed into a much more nuanced perception of the world. Injustice, extreme injustice, is found in all nations, even in these so-called western democracies which claim to offer strong personal rights. So liberty has become a relative concept depending on various factors such the color of your skin, your religion, and the amount of money in your bank account.

That said, there are some countries in which I would never want to live because of the extreme persecution of the freedom of expression and/or because of the state of war, declared or not.They are:

1. North Korea (Self-explanatory)
2. Saudi Arabia (Dictatorship and persecution of women)
3. Iraq (Chaos)
4. Iran (One of the countries with a supreme leader, meaning watch your back)
5. Afghanistan (Obvious)
6. Syria (Obvious)
7. Nigeria (including several African countries where violence and corruption rule)
8. Bangladesh (poverty and violence)
9. Pakistan (Extremists make it dangerous to everybody but especially white foreigners)
10. Egypt (Tourism has almost disappeared due to the killing of Europeans)

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