Once again, the U.S. takes the lead

As the current unfolding situation takes hold in Iraq, guess who has been in the forefront of trying to stop the unraveling of the country. Okay Iran has offered weapons and have reportedly send some people to that country and Russia has also supplied some military jets to it. But it was the U.S. who has sound the most alarm. To be fair and before everybody jumps on this, I whole heartedly agree that it was a mess that the U.S. created and left for leaving sake knowing well the history of animosity between the different sectarian and ethnic sects. So it was logical that the U.S. takes a lead in trying to contain the situation. But I believe it is in the best interest for all peace loving nations and big powers to come to the rescue of Iraq and try to contain the situation before it is too later for the neighborhood and the larger world. But I don’t see any of the major powers like Britain, France and the aspiring to be world powers like India and China too much worried about the unrest in Iraq. They are happy to let the U.S. worry about that mess that was created by it and they know that sooner or later the U.S. will be able to contain it. And what about some other crises that is not of the U.S. making? How would the big powers respond to it then? This is the thing the world has to ponder. What if the U.S. stop becoming the worlds' Policeman and let other powers do their own carry weight in their neighborhoods? And it is time that the U.S. also start every situation as a national security threat. We don’t have the money or the forces enough to be everywhere in the world. We should only lead when absolutely necessary and let others pay for our services too.

Whenever it suits you

You see every human being has their own interest in doing some. It is very rare that they will do something out of selflessness as it has no reward for them. And whenever it suits them, they will support something and if not will oppose it tooth and nail not know that other people already know why they are doing it. And as I was reading an article in an Arab newspaper, I was immediately stuck by what I said before. Saudi Arabia, the world biggest exporter of Oil and an extremely influential Muslim nation being the site of Islam's two holiest sites and America's number one ally in the Middle East has opposed any kind of foreign intervention in Iraq (read: Iran) but at the same time have called for intervention in Syria (we all know by now why). Saudi Arabia does not want a Shiite dominated government in Iraq and is opposing Iran because of it and on the other hand does not want an Iranian ally in Syria to rule the government there. Iran has the same problem as they don’t want their gains in Syria and Iraq to vanish and that is why both Iran and Saudi Arabia are battling it out in the other people countries. But even if the situation is the same in Iraq and Syria, the reaction is different because wherever it suits them, they are willing to go along with their interest rather than take a fair and rational view of the situation. Both are Muslim countries but instead of cooperating with each other, they are ready to battle it out. And this self interest permeates every living human being and I can say that it is rare when someone rises above their own self interest to help others or take a broader view of the situation.

The worrisome blowback from Jihadist activities

Recently I was reading in the newspaper that Indonesia is worried that its citizens who have gone to Iraq and Syria to fight a jihad will come back battle hardened and may become a threat to peace in that nation. And it is not Indonesia alone but other countries like Britain, France and other European and Middle Eastern countries who have all supported this so called Jihad are worried that when their citizens come back, they will not be satisfied to see what is going on in their native countries and will try to supposedly "correct" them by waging Jihad at home. European countries are more worried since their citizens can travel visa free to several countries around the world and have the potential to create mayhem globally. There are no easy answers as Jihad was encouraged initially as the way to get rid of incumbent Syrian government and now that the genie is out of the bottle, several countries are trying to control this genie which has a mind of its own. I am not the one to tell these governments what to do since I know they are trying to prevent any catastrophe that may accompany if and when these Jihadist come back and try to practice their skills at home. But for a starter, their activities should be monitored right when they enter the country and keep them under surveillance to make sure that they don’t do anything stupid. How they meet their friends, relatives, their activities. I am sure they will be thinking along these lines. And now that the Syrian and Iraq war has inspired these people to be part of the Jihadist movement, the countries involved can only regret and take corrective measures to mitigate their mistake of supporting these conflicts in the first place.

Battle for control

Ever since human beings came to this earth, they have always wanted to have some control over something. And this battle for control has not stopped but keeps on going something in friendly ways and sometimes not. The biggest battle for control is in your own home where sometimes nastiness can creep in when it times to decide who will hold the ultimate prize- the remote control to the television. When I use to watch television my dad always wanted to hold on to the remote while I was also in competition. And now with my own family as I watch very little TV, I still compete with my wife and daughter to get a hold on to the remote so that I can control what everybody will watch or increase or decrease the volume. I know it is a childish thing but everybody has a child in them and this is one of the times we do enjoy this battle. Another one is who is going to drive a car, but this one is easy as you or your spouse can only drive but if you have two kids able to drive besides you then it becomes a battleground. In the larger picture, you see every day in every sphere of life everybody is jockeying for position to take control of something that is valuable and can give you an advantage over your opponent. Especially in a war, the nation that gets control of some strategic area wants to keep it that way and has an advantage over enemy. As long as human beings are alive, this battle of control will always be fought, whether it is in house or in the battlefield.