Remember Different

I was driving home from my land last weekend and I saw an American flag in front of a house with a big sign that read, "Remember 9/11. Support our troops."

I remember 9/11. It's kind of hard to forget. It's like when you ask someone what they were doing when John F. Kennedy was shot; if they were old enough at the time to remember anything, they can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. If you were old enough to remember 9/11, trust me - you won't forget it.

Ever.

But then there's our troops in Iraq. I support THEM, as people, as Americans, because they (well, most of them, anyway) did not go over there by choice. They were sent there. On orders. That's kind of how the organization works. But then, what's with the sign?

Remember 9/11. Support our troops.

OK, I remember 9/11, and I support our troops (please don't confuse that to mean I support the decision for them being there, or whatever spin is spun to convince us as to why they are there or why they should be there). But what do the two have to do with each other?

Nothing.

Yes, remember 9/11. But remember also why we are in Iraq...if you can. So, just why is it that they are there, again? The Bushies (including the man himself) would like us to think we're fighting some kind of WAR in Iraq and that it has something to do with 9/11, but don't kid yourselves, little lemmings. Have you seen the gas prices lately?

If this war has done anything, it has weakened our ability to fight off those who truly aim to do harm to this country and the citizens thereof. It also has done exactly what I EXPECTED it to do the very moment I heard ol' G.W. first open his bumbling mouth about starting this war in the first place (nevermind the moronic "axis of evil" comments, or the mighty "you're either with us, or against us" stance that followed): it has stirred up the hornet's nest. It has riled up those people in the world who hate us the most. The real people and organizations that would just love to take down the Western world given half a chance.

Well, I think with all our military resources getting sapped by a war that can't be articulated or defined, I think they might have half a chance. And while we're over stomping on some old, incohesive hornet's nest, all the hornets are regrouping and building new nests somewhere else (or, perhaps, where they have been all along). And the more stomping we do, the more building they do. The more we're distracted, the stronger they get.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read, "support our troops - let them win!" Win what? What are they WINNING? What are WE winning? What is the payoff here? How can we win a war that can't even be defined? Does losing mean we lose access to the oil reserves? No, that can't be it - war is NEVER about money or resources. I hear stories about schools being built over there, and all the good we're doing, yadda, yadda, yadda... Is this a war or a relief effort? What IS the plan? What IS this "war" about?

You cannot fight an idea. The whole "war on terrorism" concept is flawed in its conception. You can't fight terrorism! You can only fight against those who commit terrorist acts (and just what is the definition of terrorism these days?). There is no winning until everyone is dead. I mean everyone - all 6.5 billion of us on this fragile little world. There will ALWAYS be those who hate us. And as long as there are people who hate US, there will be those of US who hate THEM. See how that works? It's a never-ending cycle - a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You can't win against enevitability. No one can. Sure, you can stave it off, postpone it, keep pushing back as hard as you can until finally something slips through the cracks and brings a ton of shit crashing down. But it can't be stopped. Controlled to some degree, perhaps, but never stopped.

But that's the problem with the people who think this world is governed by rules of black and white. You're either with us, or against us. You are on our side or you are on their side. You're on the left or you're on the right (and the gap keeps getting wider). This war will either be won or it will be lost. All these absolutes! All these ultimatums! It's that very thinking that will result in defeat...however one might define that.

The universe works in the middle - in the gray area between black and white. There are no absolutes. There is no finish line to cross. Life is a process, and although an individual's life may have a distinct beginning and a distinct ending, life, itself, continues. Everything is an ebb and a flow, a negotiation, a decision, a choice, and ultimately a path.

And, perhaps, ultimately, all paths lead to the same conclusion. After all, in about five billion years, the sun will burn out and the Earth will die - all of it - so what are we really fighting? Shouldn't we really be focusing our efforts on saving HUMANITY? If we think we're smart enough to somehow win some kind of absolute war against an abstract concept, certainly we can figure out how to live in space and understand the fundamental laws of the universe and work with them to find a way off this rock in search of (or in development of) other habitable environments.

What if we are the only "intelligent" beings in the universe (sans the lemmings)? We don't have a whole lot of time here, and striving to wipe each other out isn't helping things. Listening to some moron who sits in a position that really needs to be occupied by someone respectable, doesn't help either. Listening to the spin will only lead to trouble. And there's PLENTY of that lurking around the corner, with or without the spin!

I question the intelligence of a species that continues to repeat historical mistakes, and in bigger and badder ways. That seems more like our animal nature kicking in - perhaps leading us to think, "things will be different this time!"

Well, Good Luck.

OK, sure, yes... I will remember 9/11. And I will remember that it was Osama bin Ladin that was behind the plan, and he was (perhaps still is?) in Afghanistan. And his followers are in Afghanistan...and Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, and... Oh, and I should support our troops. And, oh, wait...why are we in Iraq, again? Oh, yeah - I think it's because the Republicans think that if we stay there long enough, they'll figure out a reason to justify it that actually sounds reasonable, or that maybe SOMETHING good will eventually come of it, or maybe they just want to somehow shove the whole mess into the Democrats' laps, or at least into the next administration.

Or maybe it's just good for business.

They can all shove it as far as I'm concerned. I want the fucking planet back! Love it, or leave it!