> > * If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more > > violence. > > > > * If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more > > Israel. > > Gee, I wonder what Bill Arnold thinks about those statements? > > Bill, do you think that's right? Is that summing it up in a > nutshell, so to speak.
Situations have their own minimum levels of complexity, below which we cannot go. In this case, putting down the guns - while absolutely necessary, is not enough. There's too much history and too much momentum now to think that one change will make the difference. Before the invasion of Iraq, and before it devolved, I thought there was a chance that a combined democracy approach would have solved the Israel/Palestine problem. That is, if we were going to demonstrate the wonders of democracy, that would have been just the example we needed. But nobody wanted to talk about that. Instead what actually happened was a gambit to seize authority in the ME and reinforce Israel's security militarily (while enriching certain of our politically powerful industries). That gambit, to all but the neocons who pulled it off (and are still in power!), has become a giant albatross around our necks. At this point, I really don't think anything short of a revitalized UN can stop the hostilities in the ME. If you look at the history of UN resolutions, you'll see that too often Israel - using America's veto power - has defied that institution. There's also been corruption. These conditions sapped that institutions potential and must be fixed to give it the credibility it requires. These are not insurmountable problems, once we acknowledge what we must do. But the most important thing of all is attitude. First and foremost, the disastrous belief that might makes right must be reversed. An example: had Israel, with America's help, unleashed engineers and doctors in a frontal assault on the scourges of the ME and Africa, we'd be looking at a whole different situation today. It's not too late, but we don't have all the time in the world either. The starting point, I think, is to put the neocons on trial for war crimes centered on the invasion of Iraq. Yes, this goes against the grain of everything the average American has been taught, because everything he knows is what the "news" told him, so the other imperative is to bust up the media ownership strangehold. These are tall orders, true, but desperate times call for desperate measures - and we are in very serious trouble today for exactly these "big picture" reasons. I've already spent too much time on this problem, and now my own survival is at stake, so I'm going to have to roll somewhat with the punches I'm sure I've just invited. Bill > V/R > > //SIGNED// > Stephen S. Wolfe, GS-11, DAF > Data Services Manager > Comm (813) 827-9994 DSN 651-9994 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
