My thoughts on the events of late

My thoughts on the events of late

Chichen Itza, Mexico 2008

So, CNN is on the television right now and I just grit my teeth as the anchor just cut-off his guest for no apparent reason other than it’s the beginning of the hour and they most have new material to share. I adore how the media can make international intervention in a Civil War sound like they are giving highlights on a Weekend Fair Bizarre. Ultimately, it’s War. The people of Libya have been and will die. Bombs and bullets do that for some reason. Be respectful of that, it’s not exciting or breaking news, it’s human tragedy and suffering on a scale far larger than you can comprehend or relay. You are clearly oblivious to this or you would recognize that smiling right now is more than a little inappropriate.

I do find the contrast between Libya and Bahrain remarkable. It’s acceptable for one group but not another group to protest based on ethnic background or politics. Apparently, not all liberty is equal. Not that I don’t understand that Gaddafi was killing his people to extinguish an uprising. But, what is it that is happening in Bahrain? Saudi Arabia is just pouring money into their political unrest and with the exception of a few hard liners that seems to be working quite well. My condensed thoughts are this: The Middle East is collectively the world’s largest producer of oil which equates to tremendous wealth coupled with the need for political stability and appearance of peaceful accord within that region. Yet the Middle East is a region of religious differences, tribal mentalities and ancient vendetta’s. They have fighting amongst themselves and with each other for centuries. The twentieth century comes around and poof….they must quickly compact monarchy, tribal and religious differences, diplomacy and compromise in a relatively short period of time not just for the greater good of the region but for the world. I think when there is a gaping disparity (greed) between the classes (between the rich and the poor) is when you see political unrest. A Benevolent Tyranny isn’t that bad when everything else is near Utopia. It’s all about sharing and if you don’t share, someone is eventually going to become upset.

I wished that we would look upon the actions of a country against their people on merit only. Because, although I do believe that there is some validity in our intervention in Libya, I wonder if that country was less viable economically, we would have intervened so readily. Like Iraq and Afghanistan (which are tremendously mineral rich) there is an economic reason to insure an internationally friendly government be present. What about countries that don’t have so much to offer but are under brutal regimes. Genocide is a repulsive but far too often used word in a world where information is readily and rapidly available and countries that, let’s face it, know better. There is a great sadness in the realization that we weight human life with the global dollar impact as a counterbalance. If intervention comes, it comes when the death toll reaches an unacceptable level. I wonder how many people lives equals genocide. Does it make sense that we ask that question?