By William Markiewicz
(As other short items may follow, I've decided to group them together.)
"Excuses?" (2/23)
The Republicans accuse Obama of giving excuses to the Afghan government and Afghans for the burning of the Koran by
American soldiers. The critics' opinion is that America shouldn't make excuses to those who don't deserve it even if it means fight after fight after fight. The way I see it, excuses are not an expression of subservience but of noble pride. The Tzarist officers, after conquering Chechnya, treated the defeated Chechens with elegant noblesse, even friendship. It is the contrary of humiliating a defeated enemy, even more if the enemy is far from being defeated. Show courtesy to the wounded adversary.
Super powers and common states in "class" conflict? (2/13)
If, in the UN, one or two great powers can paralyze the right initiative of the rest of the members, then there is something wrong in the institution itself. The privileged Security Council shouldn't exist; it should be one organization - the United Nations - where the number of votes matters. If the great powers insist on having their privileged Security Council, then let them have it, isolated and for themselves. If there must be conflict between superpowers and the rest of the commoners, then let's see how it resolves itself. Should one or two Gullivers view the rest of the planet from a pedestal? We see the catastrophic results when Russia and China block the rest of the world. The fatal situation in Syria would have changed long ago if the United Nation's hands were not tied by the superpowers.
Libya (1/25)
Libya couldn't hold together forever under dictatorship, no matter how economically beneficial. Libya also wasn't able to install democracy simply because it is composed of too many heterogeneous elements, tribes, religions … Only bloody civil wars can determine the future of this huge but not viable country and the future will show how many independent entities will emerge. Certainly foreign intervention by those who try to fish in the muddy waters will add to the confusion, but the final decision will belong to those who are today still Libyans.
Religious Massacres in Niger (1/25)
I believe I wrote in Vagabond that while mixed couples, mixed groups of friends, can live harmoniously, mixed societies in homogeneous countries are a no-no. Only countries which started multiculturally, as in the New World, show more patience in coexistence than those inhabited mostly by "their own kind." Therefore in Europe, in Asia, those who could do it, separated from each other. Niger should separate along the borders that divide predominant Christians from predominant Muslims. Until this happens, bloodshed will continue.
My Advice to Israel (1/15)
1 If you have nuclear weapons, don't attack first. Iran knows that your reply will leave Iran limping. I don't think any Iranian politician would want to go down in history with such a scar -- and not even for the Iranian cause.
2 If you don't have nuclear weapons, admit it and ask the US for help. Give the West Bank back to the Palestinians and the Golan Heights to the Syrians. The reasons for war with Israel will automatically deflate. Too bad that Israel has waited so long.
3 . . . ?
Mini-Dangers (1/06)
Obama, talking about the USA's Asia policy, mentioned Iran and North Korea as potential dangers. Before the USA's disastrous war against Iraq, Elie Wiesel compared Saddam Hussein to Hitler, completely distorting the sense of proportion. There is no danger at present for the USA. Yes, the US can be painfully hurt, like everybody, but the perpetrator would cease to exist the next day and knows it. Iran remains a danger only for Israel because Israel is tiny. As long as Israel remains so, meaning forever, the only guarantee of its security will be peace, diplomacy -- and enough power to be respected.
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William Markiewicz