It is easy for people to hate when times seem tough. It is also easy for people to justify their hate because they are ignorant of real history – they only know the glossy myth. I am proud that you are not one of those people, but seek to love all of mankind. I am also proud that you seek out the history and culture behind the myth. I love that you ask “why” and have learned to chart your own course rather than to allow yourself to blindly follow those who would seek to lead you astray (even if they know not what they do). I am proud of you for who you are and who you will grow to be because of the choices you make, particularly the choice to love not hate.
Category Archives: Political Notions
Intervention versus Peacekeeping
What was I thinking when I doubled up on these two history classes?
Intervention or peacekeeping.
One is good and one is bad. One is wrong and one is right. One should work and one should not.
But there is no consensus as to which is which. Are they not just the same thing with different names?
In the end, are they not simply outside entities imposing a course of action on a weaker, more chaotic entity or region?
Isn’t it all just about the spin which is placed on the action?
Speaking of spin, this makes my head spin and I need a nap.
A break from historical analysis…
Just as I passed the halfway point in my current research paper, family interruptions led to a very strange conversation about space exploration and conspiracy theories.
Yes, this strangeness which I am about to reveal is all my fault. I am easily swayed from my paper on CIA interventions, and my creative energy has been begging me to focus on something utterly ridiculous.
So with all the seriousness I could muster, I informed my family that a combined space army of Imperial Storm Troopers and Klingons were poised to attack. The Death Star was in position, cloaked, and ready to fire on the Earth. If, however, it failed to cause magnificent destruction, an enormous herd of Tribbles would be let loose on humanity, thereby eradicating the sanity of the Earth population and making Earth irrelevant to the intergalactic order.
This bizarre conversation, and sorely needed break from my less-than uplifting historical inquiry, inspired an odd thought.
Life is really just a conspiracy to bring about our eventual death.
History of Intervention
Over the past few months, I have been studying the history of intervention as part of my pursuit of a Master’s in Military and Diplomatic History. There seems to be two common lessons to learn from the history of military intervention.
First:
There is no “getting it right.” Military intervention forcibly halts conflict for a time but does not end conflict. It always comes back. Inaction will cause many to suffer. Action will cause many to suffer. Therefore, do we intervene and cause suffering in order to stop suffering, all the while simply postponing war for the next generation? Or do we let war run its course and watch a generation die?
Second:
Stopping regional war but risking international world war is not usually worth the price. Unfortunately, no one can figure out when the price is worth paying. When 100,000 die? When multiple nations topple? When the threat reaches your own back door?
There is one new lesson being recorded for our posterity even as I post this.
Those who call for war are seldom the ones who fight the war. This is nothing new, but it is being documented in great volume in the news and social media. Armchair warriors cry for a strong stand against tyranny and call it weakness when diplomacy is used. They approve of the jobs created by military buildup but disapprove of paying the bill. They think war is like a game of Risk, a game that when an impasse is reached you box it up and put it on the shelf for the next time you feel like prancing around like a peacock. Being strong means looking strong rather than acting strong.
What we should be learning.
The one thing that history doesn’t seem to teach anymore is the value of stepping back from a fight and trying for peace once again. When this choice is made, if it is made, it is belittled and viewed as a weakness. It, rather than warmongering, is called the cause of future conflict.
President Teddy Roosevelt said “Speak softly and carry a big stick…” But we do not speak softly any more.
Machiavelli advised to be respected rather than loved. He used the word “feared” but his context inferred respected because the Prince should avoid being hated.
The person who always carries a big stick will eventually be hated – hated for acting, hated for not acting, and hated for the threat of the big stick. Sadly, this is the lesson history is trying to teach but a lesson we just don’t seem to be learning.
Saith Me… Debate or Tirade
Differing perspectives can elevate our comprehension of complex issues, but they can also drag us down into a pit of malevolence when discussion and debate are replaced by an unbending quest to convert or conquer.
What if…
This week I have been reviewing the history of peacekeeping, all the while following the news reports of revolt, violence, an bloodshed. So it is not strange that today I find myself pondering a profound what if.
What if there had been a greater supply of and access to guns during the American Revolution?
Certainly we just need to look to the American Civil War to see what happened when technology improved and the availability increased.
Would the weaponry of today shortened or lengthened the American Revolution? Would there have been more or less bloodshed? Would the decolonization process of the North American colonies been just as turbulent as the process elsewhere in the world?
News of Declassifications through FOIA
The real news is not simply that stuff gets declassified. The real news is that every day scholars seek more declassification of information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) without seeking fame. It is from their efforts that we have a chance to broaden our understanding and not simply our talking points.
Outsourcing Security: Does it really make us secure?
While many US citizens debate the issue of security versus privacy, they neglect to seek answers to the most important question? Is the US bureaucratic and military muscle doing the work of securing the nation or has it been outsourced to those whose loyalties lie in the $$$$ rather than the flag?
The following are some of the current discussions on the issue of outsourcing security and defense:
The outsourcing of U.S. intelligence raises risks among the benefits
How Spy Agency Contractors Have Already Abused Their Power
US Lawmakers Give Defense Contractors Reason to Sweat After PRISM Leak
U.S. Relies on Spies for Hire to Sift Deluge of Intelligence
What You Should Know About The Intelligence Community’s Contractors
Who Will Survive Unscathed?
I just love it when a journalist tells it like it is… (see the link)
My favorite section was on the IRS and the difficult job they have. Like any other government branch, the IRS is made up of humans and humans often make bad decisions, especially when there are new or complicated policies to manage.
What I find most odd about this latest round of “scandal” is the comparisons being made between President Obama and President Nixon. Nixon was a tightfisted president when it came to decision making and oversight. He trusted few. Obama seems to trust many and seeks to let the professionals in each bureau run the day-to-day. This is what causes him so many problems – he trusts people to do their jobs.
Mistakes happen in every administration, that is a given. There has never been nor will there ever be a “perfect” president, not even ole George Washington himself was without flaws. Sometimes mistakes get reported, sometimes they don’t, and in some cases mistakes are covered up – hopefully in all cases mistakes are motivators for change and better training.
Mistakes will happen but if WE THE PEOPLE keep going on witch hunts and continue on a path of losing faith every time someone makes a mistake – including the people in the Oval Office and in Congress – then WE THE PEOPLE will be making the biggest mistake of all. Our lack of faith in our system is the greatest threat to our nation! When bad things happen, when mistakes are made, and when threats are not halted at our borders, instead of rallying we gnash our teeth and rend our clothes in anger over our governments failure. But our government is of the people and by the people. People make mistakes – some from good intentions and other from arrogance, but this is nothing new. The only thing new is the speed and volume of information availability. Mistakes now become public fodder even before they are fully investigated. Human mistakes!
Just as the laws are made to protect the common man, those same laws protect the common man who works for the government whether they be elected, appointed, or hired by a bureaucratic supervisor. During a witch hunt, would you voluntarily give up your right to remain silent? So why then would you expect any public servant or employee to give up that same right? Instant news and the public outcry that follows instant news do not negate the right to a fair hearing.
Seeking change, disagreeing with policy, disliking personalities – these things may direct your voting choice but they should not cause you to distrust those who are elected, nor should they cause you to lose faith in the system. During the election cycle there is much complaint about mudslinging and the lack of truth, but where is the outrage and disgust over such underhanded politically motivated tactics during the non-election cycle (if there is such a period anymore)? Hiding political agendas and mudslinging behind demands for transparency and demands for instant details is appalling. Even when mistakes are less mistake and more intended actions, the rights of individuals and the protection of innocents must be considered. Even a witch hunt targeted at one, may cause unintended casualties and unintended consequences. People make up our government and their lives and their freedoms COUNT!
In the days of old, the witch hunt often targeted innocents, and just as often ended up targeting the very people responsible for the witch hunt’s origin. When January 2017 rolls around, who will have survived this latest witch hunt unscathed? Will it be WE THE PEOPLE or will WE perish due to our own mistakes rather than from those we perceive made by others?
Questions… Taking Sides and Losing Unity
Is there a danger in supporting YOUR TEAM rather than supporting OUR Team? Have we lost the OUR NATION and become irrevocably divided in a contest of finding fault? Has history become only the Myths and Legends with which we batter and attack the opponent? Or can history still teach us something about the reality of human fallibility and the imperfect nature of trying to do our best and falling short of expectations? Can truth ever be found if we only see what we want to see, only hear what we want to hear, and only perceive what we already perceive?
Are we still trying to learn, grow, evaluate, and improve – or are we simply taking sides?
.
.
.
“Note to Democrats and Republicans: This Is Not a Game” by Mathew Dowd
Pithy Ponderings 