I have been stuck on fear lately about never ending war. The fact that the Fox cable channel with the word 'news' in its title has been referring to Isis as being in a Holy war is literally, and quite deliberately, baiting their very vulnerable and ignorant audience to begin following the rhetoric Isis wants America to follow. They see this as a Holy war. They want a Holy war.
America created our enemies over decades by interfering and arming groups that would later turn against us. Our being involved was going to create enemies, regardless. It took time but we are now the target for much of the hatred that permeates the ideologies of these groups. America decided to go into Iraq as retaliation for 9/11. We were lied into going to war. When the country (most of it) finally decided to see the fallacies that sent us to war, it was too late. I am proud to say that I thought it was bullshit at the time. I certainly wanted to defend our country and take care of the group that attacked us. But, as we all know, Iraq had nothing to do with it.
We have always had hawks on the right who want to go war. Any war, it seems. I am pretty convinced that their objectives are financial. That is absolutely heart breaking. Like McCain was a POW. It was a terrible time for him. But he is insistent that we should go to war every time an opportunity arises. No one seems to want to spend any time on diplomacy. It would be different if we could figure out who the opponents are and take them out. Human beings are being sent to war. Some human beings won't come home. Some human beings will come back so fucked up that they will not be able to function in society. We are constantly at war somewhere. Few in power seem to be reflecting on the fact that because we are always in war, we are always creating enemies.
Someone obviously has to take care of Isis. But they are everywhere. They are assaulting many countries. This is not an American fight. This is a world fight. I am afraid that my grandchildren will learn about WWIII and it will be a very different history lesson than the first two. There are no nations to fight in the Middle East. They are radical groups of assholes which we helped to radicalize (mad props there Uncle Sam). They compel people all over the world to kill others. With the internet, they have direct access to all of those disengaged in all societies who really just want to find someone to hate. Anyone. They can find this group and receive praise and offers of connectedness that they would otherwise never receive in their lives. They are gullible and weak. There are handfuls of these loners throughout the world. They can feel like they are a part of something where they can be celebrated for their disdain and brutality. They might have gone to a college campus or abortion clinic if they had the nerve, but this way they can act out as part of a group and feel solidarity with like-minded people. It really is a brilliant way to create an army, sadly. And they don't even have to meet. Ever. They can get their directions online. The idea of finding all of them and stopping them before anything else happens feels hopeless.
I am terrified of where we are headed. I fear for the service men and women who are going to be sent on a never ending battle with unnamed and unidentified enemies. Just because our military has been trained to fight doesn't mean they always need to be fighting. Wouldn't it be nice if we had a military solely to protect us in case something awful happened? Do we always have to be looking for something awful.
Yes, Isis needs to be dealt with. But they are an international threat. This needs to be dealt with by the UN. Why is it always us? I am sure there is an answer to that which I am just not aware of. I admit I am not well versed in all of our military histories but SHIT, this cannot be what we are looking to commit our future generations to, is it? How are these people ever going to be stopped? I don't know. But I can be damned sure that as right-wing assholes try to make propaganda out of "Holy Wars," we are just perpetuating our constant need to be fighting.
When I was a kid and classmates were considering going into the military it wasn't a foregone conclusion that they would soon be shipped off somewhere. The suicide rates of our military members wasn't astronomical. Now we just bring them home for a minute and ship them back. I sincerely worry about where this is headed. And I wonder what our reflections will be like in 10-15 years. Will we see that there was really a nefarious plot and recount all of the villains behind it and the billionaires (by then trillionaires) who are enjoying the spoils over decades of our dead young men and women? Holy War, indeed. Fuck you.
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