TheLastManInAmerica

And tomorrow, when the Human Clock stops

And the world stops tickin’

We’ll be an index fossil buried in our own debris

    “Part IV (The Index Fossil)”- Bad Religion (1987) 

                War! Like the scrolling introduction to Star Wars Episode III, this is how I’ll start this off. This decade is mired in misguided wars, all under the guise of protecting the lives and freedoms of innocent people around the world, most notably, here in our country. From the barren wastes of Afghanistan, to the endless deserts of
Iraq, battles have been fought for the past seven years and it always seems there is no victor. When the End Game appears to be at hand, when we have the enemy by the short and curlies we seem to lose our grip and the victory slips away, only to be sought out somewhere else, where the glory of triumph will override all previous blunders once it is obtained. When the hunt for Osama bin Laden yielded no joy we diverted our attention and money and soldiers’ lives to bringing down Saddam Hussein. And now that that mission has left Iraq a scene of utter chaos, with no real hope of ever stabilizing, the chalice appears to be waiting deeper in the desert, across the border into
Iran.

Since that inauspicious day in the summer of ’01, we have been privy to a snowballing “War on Terror” that engulfs more lives everyday as it hurtles down hill towards an undetermined, if possible, end. The invasion of
Afghanistan and war on Al Qaeda and the Taliban was just; there was actually a face behind the threat to our country, one that could be hunted and brought to justice for their crimes. But ever since Osama bin Laden managed to wriggle his way out of a snare that surely should’ve seen him captured and punished accordingly, it appears we are chasing a phantom, an elusive fiend with no real face or shape that sprouts a new head every time we seem to have taken it for good. Once bin Laden was all but forgotten, Hussein was given the mantle of being the most ominous threat to our country. And hitherto that winter day he was found cowering in a hole in the ground, it was assumed by the Powers That Be that his disgrace would bring about parades of red, white and blue confetti from the skies over
Baghdad. Then the novelty wore off and the perverted stability imposed by the autocrat left a vacuum to be filled. And with no thought given in terms of what to do with the country post-Hussein, the trophy that was ours got blown away in a sandstorm of roadside bombs and insurgent violence.

Which leads us today; reports are now out that, while unconfirmed, say the U.S. is running covert operations in
Iran, spying on the country’s nuclear operations. It is suggested that these missions are in preparation for an impending attack on the nation, a grave supposition, made even more sobering when reminded of Israel’s military operations in the Mediterranean in early June and their recent comments, setting time tables for their own attack on
Iran. With Israel our only real ally in the region and Bush’s forthright condemning of the country that dates back to him, unprovoked, dubbing them part of the Axis of Evil, it is no far-fetched notion to see us “lacing ‘em up” once again for another bout, in hopes of finally bringing home that trophy that has eluded us for the better part of a decade.

The “War on Terror” is not one that can be won; there will never be a great victory that sees an end to the war, there will be no Battle of Endor. The people who want us dead have been warring with themselves for thousands of years in the name of a religion they share. No matter how many phantoms we chase across vast deserts, no matter how many heads we lob off, another will pop up and rejuvenate the body. But it’s not to say we shouldn’t try. The war in
Afghanistan is where we should’ve focused all our time and money and lives. Had we done that as opposed to spreading ourselves across the entire Middle East, Osama bin Laden would, with any luck, be hanging by his scrotum, dangling from the top of a flag pole 1776 feet high while Old Glory waves proudly beneath him. Sure, it wouldn’t be the end of terrorism, but it would be one sweet victory.

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