War. Republicans love it, Democrats
pretend to hate it. And unless you have been living under a rock, you
have probably heard statements made by Donald Trump and
Ted Cruz in support of blitzkrieg-style warfare against ISIS, the
cessation of immigration for Muslims into America, the surveillance of mosques,
and even the inhibition of Muslim U.S. citizens from returning to the
country should they travel outside of it. Lo, and behold, the
thousands upon thousands who cheer for such wickedness against their
fellow man, condemning the actions of Muslim terrorists, while
worshiping promises of eradication made by our nation's “leaders.”
Hypocrites.
Craving a fascist society so long as
their conservative standards
are met, Republicans flock to fascist Donald Trump as if he is a
modern day Jesus, the savior of a broken land and divided people,
here to put a stop to the liberal agendas that have defecated all
over the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and national stability. He
says, “War!” and they say, “Charge!” Forget about the fact
that there will continue to be civilian casualties—you know, people
not responsible for terrorism—let's just bomb the hell out of ISIS
and wipe them off the map. Yeah, that'll show'em! We'll just march in
there and establish our dominance, marking our territory as if the
alpha male. I remember when we did that about a decade ago. Do you?
It was
2001. Afghanistan was in our sights. America went in, guns blazing, blinded with an emotional response to the attacks on the World Trade Center, ready to topple al-Qaeda and help bring some stability to the Middle
East. Or so our leaders claimed. We killed thousands, lost many of our own, and the
result?: we failed to destroy our target, started the longest war in
U.S. History, and became the catalyst for other terrorist groups
elsewhere. Good job, Bush administration!
But,
as we all know, history tends to repeat itself. In 2003, Iraq was the
target. We invaded Iraq on the basis of misinformation, and we eventually wound up killing Saddam Hussein in 2006. As a result of
our presence, the Middle East's instability increased, giving rise to
a more powerful version of the very enemy we sought to eradicate in
2001: ISIS.
Yes,
America created the very enemy we are still
claiming to fight. Our current failure-in-chief continues to press for the death of Assad, as if we haven't seen the consequences of similar intervention in very recent history (Egypt, anyone?). After years of bombings and bloodshed, the Middle
East is no more stable than it was before we killed Saddam Hussein,
and Iraq has yet to experience the peace Bush promised them when we
rode in as wielders of desolation. And did we learn anything from
our failures? Not a thing. Instead, we proceeded to tear Libya apart,
allowing the enemy we created to use the tattered country as a hub.
Strange. One might think we are fighting with
ISIS, rather than against.
In
retrospect, we know the war with Iraq was a terrible mistake,
and when asked about whether the war as a good idea, the current GOP
candidates are in mutual agreement as to our failure, especially Rand Paul, who stressed exactly why our interventionism is a mistake:
I firmly believe much of our conflicts are rooted in the fact that humankind has, ironically, forgotten we are all humans. We have forsaken love, peace, and diplomacy, in favor of vengeance, slaughter, and control. We see ourselves as black, white, brown, red, or yellow, instead of simply people. When we stop seeing ourselves as human and merely define ourselves and others by ideologies and skin color, we fool ourselves into thinking there can ever be unity, for unity is not forged in blood and fire, but in love and concern, in wisdom and strength to seek peace above all else.
We so often view the world dualistically, but this is where we err, for the world isn't confined merely to what is good and what is
evil, lest we understand that good and evil are often differences in perspectives.
We do a disservice to our fellow man and to ourselves when we don't
allow ourselves to be challenged by that which opposes our worldview.
This nation's hatred for Muslims is a good example of that. People don't mind
saying how Islam is an evil religion, but when asked what they know
about the religion, they only answer with examples of jihad. Or, when
asked if they've ever read the Quran, they say no, yet somehow they are experts on the religion. It is seemingly okay to carry a deep hatred for a belief system and people they don't
understand, all while calling for our President to wipe them off the map.
Again, hypocrites.
I urge America to try a different approach, to be better than those who seek to do harm against us and others, to stand against war and needless bloodshed and in support of helping our fellow man rise to their feet, to become the best they can be for themselves and for others. If we work on building each other up, regardless of our differences, instead of bombing each other down, maybe someday the world will experience a little unity.
