WE HAVE NO CHOICE

Barbarians have struck again in Iraq and Israel.

In Iraq, two bombs, the second designed to kill/wound first responders.

In Jerusalem, the barbarian shot up a seminary, killing eight young people.

As noted in an earlier post, these perpetrators do not deserve to be protected by laws which safeguard the rights of bona fide combatants in a war effort.

But that is common sense.

The reason that such outrages continue is that there is no good way to stop them, pure and simply put. The suicide murderers cannot be dissuaded by dangers to themselves.

And the victimized side cannot disengage, cannot satisfy the desires of the attackers who desire nothing less than their victim's destruction.

I suggest that this is the conundrum which all great powers have faced throughout the ages: fanatical minorities will forever seek to subvert the status quo enjoyed by and protected by the great powers.

Note that one no longer hears calls from any major candidates for total isolation of the US, as in the case of Lindbergh and American Firsters in the 1930’s, prior to WW2.

It is now an accepted fact of life that the US cannot withdraw totally behind the ocean walls.

Some progress in understanding of this at least has been made.

Isolationist ignorance is still to be found in calls for an end to ‘free’ trade; condemnation of ‘outsourcing’; and willy-nilly attacks on such agreements as NAFTA.

Beware such condemnations. Most of them are uttered for the benefit of audiences, for votes, and not for the good of the Republic.

But I digress.

The US is engaged in overt combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Twelve or thirteen carrier battle groups cruise the seven seas. Forward-deployed bases are to be found all over the globe.

The American economy is the engine of the world. American culture is universal.

American/British English is the lingua franca of all people.

The US is the only super power, in fact, the most powerful nation the world has ever known.

And as a result, it/we do not have the luxury of letting the world take care of itself.

As 2008 works its way to the fall elections, know that we will be electing the single most important leader on earth.

The troubles in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc., have been troubles there for hundreds, even thousands of years.

Those troubles threaten the security and wellbeing of the United States, for better or worse.

It is possible that they will never be solved.

But the imperative for the US is that it, the US, must forever try to solve them.

Not to try, to withdraw as one of our major parties wants us to do, is to commit an act of national suicide.

Nations cannot, by definition, commit national suicide.

To do so is a crime. Those who advocate it are dangerous and should never be allowed into office.

The only reason that they are not punishable is that, hopefully, they do not intend harm. They intend good.

Motive, intent, is required for a criminal charge.

The US is engaged in really an eternal struggle. It will never really, totally end.

Suppression is the goal. Significant suppression is the victory.

We have allies.

We have to try.

We have no choice.