surgery anyone?

Thank you both for the comments on the last entry.

I agree that hate breeds hate. To take it another step, anger breeds anger, love breeds love.
Also, killing them with kindness never literally works...though it is a nice strategy to employ from time to time.
That guy cutting off people left and right with no signal or regard for those around him is ruining the day for his fellow drivers...and to a lesser extent he is ruining the days of those around them. That cycle will rage on, every person a pebble in a pond with angry ripples emanating from the center.

War is a much larger, violent, extreme version of that analogy. The countless dead and injured, their surviving families...whole regions of the world torn apart.
The ripples much larger,
Time to heal far greater...

I may still believe there is sometimes no other alternative...but I'm starting to wonder how you end them once begun.

Are we spreading democracy in those regions? It certainly seems we are.
Is that our place? In my opinion no. This is just the new "White Man's Burden". The players are different...now not a race issue, but possibly first nation status? And our "responsibility" to teach other nations to emulate us because we are so amazingly awesome.
Riiiiiight.
If Dj is reading this he just started a mental list of all the horrible things going wrong in our two respective countries. War not withstanding.
Heh

I was one of the ones who said it was okay to go to war to prevent the deaths of countless thousands of our countrymen. Never mind that those reasons have turned out false...we can argue the problems of political posturing and grandstanding and I can easily point out how decisions made long ago painted a number of people into corners where the only option was continue down a poor path or lose respect internationally.
Meh.
I digress.

I do believe that we have the right to defend ourselves...even against a potential threat that has made it very clear they wish us harm and have the means to accomplish that task.
But what cost is reasonable in that defense?
This is where I've lost my bearing.

The surgical strike on Osama's compound is a perfect counterpoint to the ongoing wars actually. One recognized a threat and nullified it with minimal physical impact to the surrounding buildings, family, and even nation.
The others...well...do a google search or two...plenty of evidence from a ten year old war to see how badly we've damaged an entire country.

Of course...even the surgical strike isn't perfect. Is it murder? Was his death necessary? What about the political and social ramifications of sneaking into another country to attack a building and kill people we deem a threat to our security?
Man...you put Osama's name on it and everyone accepts it...but if you placed that description anywhere else there'd be an uproar.


Lots to think about...but it's all still bouncing around. Feel free to continue the conversation...


-not a surgeon

news from perry

Perry Farrell told me that Osama Bin Laden is dead.
Perry Farrell.
The lead singer of a popular band conveyed news to me that seems to be of such amazing import.
Seems.
But I'm not sure how to take it, and I'm not sure how important it really is.
Osama is dead.
Certainly, I won't argue that the world is now so much worse without him in it, that he was some bright light that will be sorely missed.
No. Not that.
But better?
To say that the world is now vastly improved by his removal from it...
I'm not sure that can be said.

Bear with me here...this is still being sorted out...bouncing around my head for two days and it still hasn't found rest.

But a better place?
Everyone cheered at the news. Ten thousand human voices shouting in jubilation at the news of his death.
Just writing that seems so macabre, and I'm still not sure how I feel.
Mostly though, it's not this single loss of life that upsets me but the overwhelming joy that seems to have come from us as a result.
Joy may be too strong a word.
It is...too strong...but I'm not sure what word is proper here.
There is no doubt that many found the news of his death to be cathartic, as if a switch had been flipped. Relief and whatnot pouring forth.
But that is so misplaced...we are still at war...one death isn't going to change that. I mean, there are so many deaths every day, on both sides, and yet we still fight.
I have the sad feeling that many in those countries would argue that their main reason for fighting is the same one that was given by so many Confederate soldiers in the Civil War..."You're here aren't ya?"

Man it's so weird to sit on the side of a group that doesn't want war...that doesn't want to fight. But I have no desire to pick a fight, to continue it, I just want to protect those I love and care for...
And I'm pretty sure that everyone on the planet has figured out that it's a bad idea to fuck with America...so can we just stop?
Just stop.

Probably not. It's never that simple.
These are all randoms...strands that have been floating around, as mentioned, for the past 48 hours. Please don't jump down my throat...but feel free to comment even if you disagree.