World Beyond

A Stoning in Iraq

Warning:  This topic will make you a little squeamish...so if you're looking for something lighthearted to read today, please skip this message.

A recent LA Times article discusses yet another tragic death in Iraq.  A 17 year-old girl was killed, aided and abetted by her own family members.  Her crime?  Loving someone from another religious group.  Death by stoning.  How biblical.  I'm sure US religious conservatives are wishing they could solve their problems with similar efficiency. 

We are wasting US lives and wasting US dollars trying to fix the impossible in Iraq.  Our vain attempts to spread "freedom and democracy" will never penetrate the darkness of these tribal, fundamentalist minds.  I spent 8 months in Baghdad from Jul 04 to Mar 05, so I have some first hand experience.  The US military on the ground is doing their absolute best to accomplish their mission, but the problem is, how do you define the mission?  There are many unresolved issues here.

The US public was lied to about the reasons for entering Iraq in the first place.  Prior to the invasion, the Defense Department would not listen to State Department warnings about how difficult winning the peace would be.  Now we're told the military can't withdraw because we will "lose" the war.  What is the definition of losing?  Better yet...someone define victory for me.  A day without car bombs?  You're in for a long wait brother!

We have already eliminated (in a way) the WMD, it was a figment of our imagination.  We got rid of Saddam.  The Iraqis held free elections.  Now it's time to pick a day for a withdrawal.  Let's say six months from today, 23 Nov 2007.  We pull down to about 20,000 troops at a couple bases to provide air and artillery support to the Iraqi government.  At that point, US troops will no longer patrol the streets.  Implement a 3-5 year plan for the Iraqis to become totally self-reliant for internal security, with no US air/artillery support.  The US can remain on-call (off-shore) to help guarantee Iraq's external security, (against potentially Syria or Iran) but let's be honest, they understand the region and have enough internal problems of their own.  Do you think they're dumb enough to attempt to send occupying forces into Iraq?

Let's leave Iraq to the Iraqis, and quit trying to fool ourselves that we can do something to really help them fix their problems.  I can guarantee you that out of over 130,000 US troops in country, there are less than 100 that truly understand what's going on over there, that have the necessary language and cultural skills to truly identify the "good guys" from the "bad guys".  In many cases I believe the security training we provide to the "good guys" by day is then used by those same personnel to settle scores during their off-duty time and eliminate personnel from other ethnic and religious groups.  Are we actually helping, or making things worse? 

Returning to the LA Times article...members of the religious/ethnic group that plotted the murder of a 17 year old girl would normally be counted as some of our staunchest "friends", non-Sunni Kurds from Northern Iraq.  Unintentionally, these are the folks your tax dollars are supporting in Iraq.  There are plenty of these atrocities to go around...I'm not focusing blame on any particular group.  We are throwing precious lives and money at a problem we do not and will never truly understand....let's stop now.  I'm not sure things can get any worse, but we certainly aren't helping, at least with any proportionality to the costs involved.

Let's bring our kids home, let the military regroup and recover from this administration's imperial overreach, and focus instead on protecting our true strategic interests abroad.

The US military is the world's most perfect hammer.  We can take on any other military in the world and dispatch them quickly, with ruthless efficiency.  I guarantee you that political and military leaders from every other nation understand that fact.  The problem is, a hammer isn't really effective when the tool you really need is a screwdriver.  Here's an idea, let's use some of the other tools at our disposal to influence world events, instead of trying to use brute force to solve all the problems out there. 

PS.  If you'd like some interesting reading into the history of US involvement in the Middle East, I recommend the book: Power, Faith and Fantasy by Michael B. Oren.  He traces three themes over our repeated involvement in the region.  I'm about halfway through it right now.  Give it a try and I guarantee you'll learn something interesting you didn't already know about US history. 

Respect for Barry Bonds

Is anyone else tired of people complaining about Barry Bonds?  How can anyone question this guy's greatness?  I don't think another batter in baseball history has been treated with so much respect on the field (witness the record number of intentional walks) and so little respect off it.

He may have taken steroids in an era when large numbers of baseball players did so...but you know what?  It wasn't against the rules at the time.  Baseball knew it was going on, but did nothing to stop it.  Why?  Because Americans loved the show of big brawny men crushing homer after homer into the stands.

Now Baseball and most sportswriters and commentators are hypocritically changing their tune...with a holier than thou attitude making a scapegoat of Bonds for their own past indiscretions. 

Bottom line:  Bonds deserves to break the record.  His swing is a thing of beauty.  In this new era of steroid testing, he is clean, and still swatting homers...still drawing walks, without missing a beat.  Give the man his due, he is the greatest slugger of all time. 

A recent ESPN poll shows that Bonds support is lower among whites than blacks.  Yet another travesty.  Racism is alive and well in America.  And for the record, I'm a pasty faced white guy.

His record may be broken in the future by A-Rod or Pujols, but for now, pay your respects to Mr. Bonds.  With out a doubt he deserves it.  Go Barry!

Boris Yeltsin - RIP

Boris Yeltsin passed away on 23 April 2007.

I started my career in the US Air Force as a Cold Warrior in 1985...at the tail end of more than 40 years of tension and struggle between the US and USSR.  Today, the momentous events of the early 1990s have faded from most people's memories.

The rapid collapse of the Soviet Union was a surprise to most.  Mikhail Gorbachev started events in motion, but it was Boris Yeltsin who fought off an initial attempt led by the KGB to restore an authoritarian regime, dissolved an empire, restored lost liberty to hundreds of millions, and became the first Russian leader to voluntarily give up power.

I remember watching the initial footage of Yeltsin climbing aboard a tank in the streets of Moscow in 1991 and leading the fight against a reactionary coup, helping to free a kidnapped Gorbachev...now there's a political leader with some serious balls.

The last time I voted for President of the United States was 1992...I couldn't stomach Bush the Elder or a certain upstart from Arkansas...so I gave Yeltsin my write-in vote.  He was a true leader...a man who stood for something and took risks...not someone constantly checking opinion polls to see what way the current political wind was blowing.

Sure he made some mistakes...who wouldn't while presiding over the second most powerful state in the world during such tumultuous times?  Yes he drank too much...so what!  He led Russia through a bitter but necessary shock to adjust from a failing planned economy into the "real world" of free market capitalism. 

Yeltsin believed he had defeated the KGB coup plotters and successfully fought off authoritarianism, then, in 1999, he handed the reins of government to Mr. Vladimir Putin.  That could be the costliest mistake Mr. Yeltsin made, as Mr. Putin has led a resurgence of his former KGB cronies into political and economic leadership, and over recent years has been slowly but steadily re-instituting authoritarian control over Russia.  Politicians or businessmen who oppose him are jailed.  Truth-seeking journalists murdered.

Perhaps that's the real reason Mr. Yeltsin's heart failed.  Overwhelmed by sadness as he watched many of the freedoms he struggled for flicker out.   

The author at Yeltsin's graveside in September, 2007

Religion and Politics

Aren't these the two subjects you're never supposed to bring up in polite company?  Although this site is primarily about spiritual topics, I find the U.S. presidential race an example of a spiritual malaise that we in America are facing, for ever lengthening periods of time.  Presidential candidates are campaigning earlier and earlier, and are now crowing about the large amounts of campaign contributions received...all to position themselves to buy our votes.  Most have no solid views of their own, but pander to special interests or flip-flop their positions based on the latest polls. 

Even among the current field of self-aggrandizing, power-hungry candidates, Mitt Romney stands out.  I lived in Utah from 1999-2002 and was exposed to his self-serving leadership style as he headed up the Salt Lake Olympic Committee.  It was obvious even then that the Olympics were just a stepping stone, as Mitt sought to make a name for himself to prepare for his future assault on the presidency.  When things went bad...subordinates got the blame and were "thrown under the bus".  When credit was given, Mitt was there, standing tall to lay his claim.  He even wrote a book about it.  It's always been "all about Mitt."

Do not fear his Mormon relgious background.  I grew up Mormon.  Take my word for it, there is no Mormon conspiracy to take over the U.S. Federal Government...but there are lots of aliens buried underground at secret Utah facilities.  (Ha, gotcha!)  Besides, Mitt would readily deny his faith and sell his soul to become the your president.  Like most politicians, what you really need to fear is his ego (or in the case of Mrs. Clinton, her ego...size 38DDD), lust for power, and small army of public relations experts constantly spinning the truth (i.e. lying) in order to paint their candidate in the rosiest light. 

So sit back and enjoy...you deserve it.  For the next 20 months we'll be subject to the awe-inspiring spectacle of a gaggle of political "leaders" posturing and preening while their machines work to raise the big money required to buy the election.

Would any of our founding fathers recognize this system?   Doubtful.

If you can tear yourself away from American Idol, read the book "Lincoln's Melancholy", about a truly great man, who overcame depression to become a truly great president.  There's no way old Honest Abe would be elected today.

Hey America, raise your hand if you want to move to Australia...at least til the election is over.

Pardon the Interruption - Iraq

The primary intent of this site is to share spiritual insight, but I do have other opinions on a variety of subjects.  I thought about creating another blog for my "worldly" writings, but for now, I'm just going to post everything here.  Hopefully, those seeking the spiritual won't be offended by my infrequent excursions into current affairs.

By way of background, I was a political science/international relations major, and I've been in the US Air Force for the past 22 years.  I've been fortunate in that I've been able to travel and work all over the world.  I returned just over a week ago from a six week stint in the Russian heartland.  Which explains why I'm a little late in sharing an article from the Washington Post, published three weeks ago, which I only just read this morning.  (I'm at a rather isolated location when I'm in Russia.)

No matter what your opinion on President Bush (I'm not at liberty to honestly share mine) or whether you supported the Iraq War from the outset or not, if you want a solid understanding on what's going on in Iraq these days, with some cogent, apolitical analysis on where to go from here, then you absolutely must read this Odom Article.  I spent 8 months in Baghdad in 2004/05 and in my opinion General Odom hits the nail on the squarely on the head.  I can only hope that one of the gaggle of declared presidential candidates will make this man their foreign policy adviser.  The US needs to start thinking what our "big picture" interests are throughout the world, especially in the middle east.  We need to get past the fear-mongering for domestic consumption, get out of the corners of hysteria we've painted ourselves into (Global War on Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction) and start realistically dealing with the other nations and governments in the world. 

Another author who really tells it like it is when it comes to Iraq and other military affairs is Mr. Ralph Peters.  You can find his articles in several newspapers, and he also has written several books.  I highly recommend him.

I realize this world is just a transitory illusion, but we owe it to ourselves, our families, and our posterity to work to make it a better place.   Let's try and get past the politics and discuss what's really best for our country and the world at large.  Thanks for listening.