Friday, September 11, 2015
I have no mouth and...
On September 10, 2001 we felt secure and at peace with the world. On the other hand, Al Qaeda had clearly and openly declared for years that they were in a state of war against the evil United States, and had, on many occasions, struck at our people and interests in furtherance of that war. The next morning, on September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda once again struck at their enemy, this time in a way and on a scale that shattered the illusions of peace and security that so many had enjoyed just the day before.
On September 10, 2015, a minority of Senators, against the wishes of most Americans and, in the eyes of many Constitutional scholars, in abrogation their Constitutional duties, have endorsed the President's desire to willfully shroud our nation's eyes in the mantle of the same false sense of peace and security. On the other hand, the Islamic Republic of Iran has clearly and openly declared for years that they are in a state of war against the evil United States, and has, on many occasions, struck at our people and interests in furtherance of that war. For reasons that are known only to themselves, this minority is now proudly crowing of their political success, while the majority with clear sight are left to count down until the new 9/11 is visited upon us, funded at least in part by our very own money.
I am more concerned about seeing humans burn by nuclear fire within my lifetime now than I even was while sailing alert patrols on a ballistic missile submarine during the Cold War. The inevitable rise of a nuclear capable Iran is addressed by so many pundits as just the coming of a new Cold War, but I sadly disagree. Soviet Communism was an explicitly atheistic philosophy that promised the worker's paradise here on this earth. As such, they had a vested interest in living and the continued existence of an earth that would support this paradise. Islamic apocalyptic theology, however, is an explicitly faith-based philosophy that promises a paradise not here, but in the next world after death. The Soviet people could look at their lives and compare it with what they heard on Voice of America or saw in smuggled movies or experienced in brief interaction and they knew the Communist promise of a worker's paradise was a lie, and deep down even the most party-loyal leaders knew it, too. Certainly it was not a lie worth plunging the world into nuclear genocide and endless winter. For those faithful to the Islamic jihad cause, though, the horrible conditions in which they may live only serves to reaffirm that the theology must be right, that the next world must be better, if only one is faithful enough and serves Allah as he or she is told. For this one, their reward is not to be had here, and there is no way for their beliefs to be empirically disproved. By the very definition, their motivation is not logic but faith based.
The actions taken by the President and his faithful may not inevitably lead to a nuclear attack against the United States, but it certainly has greatly improved the odds of such. I am, however, convinced that their action, taken for for whatever temporal reasons, will at a minimum undoubtedly lead to the premature and violent death of many people: Americans, Iranians, probably Israeli, and quire possibly in many other nations in the region. We are today witnesses to the infancy of the next great humanitarian tragedy in world history, and I feel like I can do nothing but scream in impending horror.
On September 10, 2015, a minority of Senators, against the wishes of most Americans and, in the eyes of many Constitutional scholars, in abrogation their Constitutional duties, have endorsed the President's desire to willfully shroud our nation's eyes in the mantle of the same false sense of peace and security. On the other hand, the Islamic Republic of Iran has clearly and openly declared for years that they are in a state of war against the evil United States, and has, on many occasions, struck at our people and interests in furtherance of that war. For reasons that are known only to themselves, this minority is now proudly crowing of their political success, while the majority with clear sight are left to count down until the new 9/11 is visited upon us, funded at least in part by our very own money.
I am more concerned about seeing humans burn by nuclear fire within my lifetime now than I even was while sailing alert patrols on a ballistic missile submarine during the Cold War. The inevitable rise of a nuclear capable Iran is addressed by so many pundits as just the coming of a new Cold War, but I sadly disagree. Soviet Communism was an explicitly atheistic philosophy that promised the worker's paradise here on this earth. As such, they had a vested interest in living and the continued existence of an earth that would support this paradise. Islamic apocalyptic theology, however, is an explicitly faith-based philosophy that promises a paradise not here, but in the next world after death. The Soviet people could look at their lives and compare it with what they heard on Voice of America or saw in smuggled movies or experienced in brief interaction and they knew the Communist promise of a worker's paradise was a lie, and deep down even the most party-loyal leaders knew it, too. Certainly it was not a lie worth plunging the world into nuclear genocide and endless winter. For those faithful to the Islamic jihad cause, though, the horrible conditions in which they may live only serves to reaffirm that the theology must be right, that the next world must be better, if only one is faithful enough and serves Allah as he or she is told. For this one, their reward is not to be had here, and there is no way for their beliefs to be empirically disproved. By the very definition, their motivation is not logic but faith based.
The actions taken by the President and his faithful may not inevitably lead to a nuclear attack against the United States, but it certainly has greatly improved the odds of such. I am, however, convinced that their action, taken for for whatever temporal reasons, will at a minimum undoubtedly lead to the premature and violent death of many people: Americans, Iranians, probably Israeli, and quire possibly in many other nations in the region. We are today witnesses to the infancy of the next great humanitarian tragedy in world history, and I feel like I can do nothing but scream in impending horror.
