Here is my weekly Exercising the First column for the July 27th Laconia Daily Sun:
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There has been much talk of late as to whether we are in the early stages of a new world war. I believe we are. Some have been calling it the “third world war.” I see it more as the fourth, with World Wars I and II followed by a third, the Cold War- a “world” war fought mostly by proxy, with the main opponents never openly engaging each other directly. Korea, Vietnam, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Afghanistan (versus Soviets), Grenada, China (to a lesser extent), Cuba, Angola, and even Berlin itself- all were actual battle zones in the 45 years or so of “warfare.” Additionally, we all know that many covert battles took place, with propaganda and economic conflicts as well. The war played out across the globe with most nations on one ideological side or another.
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While the Cold War never devolved into open conflagration, it came close on more than one occasion. Both camps knew such a war would probably annihilate civilization as they knew it. There were rational people on both sides not wishing such a result. Reagan knew this, and embarked on a mission to ensure that in the event of open war, only one nation might be destroyed- and it wouldn’t be America. The Soviets came to understand this and, coupled with the inherent flaws of their economic system, were thus beaten. Like WWII, total defeat of the “bad guys” was the only way to prevent utter destruction of everybody.
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The first three “world wars” stretched all around the globe, with outbreaks of fighting and skirmishes occurring in even the remotest of areas. All featured at its core a collision of ideologies. WWI saw nationalism, empire, ethnicity and aristocracy steeped in militarism. When old ways collapsed, the rush to fill the vacuum led to catastrophe. WWII, the foundations of which were laid in the terms of the previous war’s armistice, saw a clash of free, democratic nations versus Nazism and the Japanese militarist regime. Dictatorships sought to use the modern industrial state to take over and rule the world. The Cold War brought a further re-alignment along obvious political philosophies- a democratic, capitalist system and communism (socialism) – sovereign individuals pursuing personal gain versus a system where everyone belonged to the state.
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When considering the concept of “world war” as illustrated by the three aforementioned examples, and compared against the events currently unfolding, one must conclude that if we are not yet in a world war, we are quite close. Hot spots and fighting have left no region untouched. Certainly opposing and competing ideologies are in the mix as well.
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Let’s consider the list of recent or current outbreaks of violence: Israel is fighting the Palestinians, Hezbollah, and the Lebanese, with Syria waiting on deck. North Korea is test firing nuclear-capable missiles possibly able to hit the US. Of course there’s Iraq and Afghanistan in the mix as well. The Bosnia-Kosovo theater is still ongoing. Dittoes for the Russian- Chechnyan affair. India and Pakistan could erupt into open warfare at any moment. Even the jungles of the Philippines have seen bursts of savage fighting. Don’t forget Sudan and Somalia- some of the fiercest open warfare on the planet (other than Israel) is taking place there as you read this. Add to this Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, which is taking delivery of some 300,000 AK47s. For what? To use against who?
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In many of these instances, we can plainly see the “clash of ideology” piece that makes up the second part of my definition of world war- the Islamofascist theocrats (dictatorship) versus (once again) democratic, secular peoples. In Somalia, (the setting for an earlier deadly action involving US troops) recent news reports state that Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia in order to help that nation’s battered and weakened government stave off advances by Islamist militias that control most of the country. Predominately Christian Ethiopia fears the rise of a fundamentalist Islamic state right next door, knowing what trouble that will bring.
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If you think that the Ethiopians, the Israelis, or anyone else on the “right” side opposing Islamic fundamentalism, are making mountains out of molehills, then you haven’t been paying attention. A July 7th APF story (H/T Skip) tells us that
Islamists vowed to execute Muslims who skip prayers as they tightened their religious grip on the Somali capital Mogadishu and again Thursday rejected government calls for foreign peacekeepers. Under an edict issued by a leading Mogadishu cleric, the five-times daily prayer required by the Koran will be enforced under penalty of death, a move that appears to confirm the hard line nature of the city’s Sharia courts. ‘He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel and Sharia law orders that that person be killed,’ said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).
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In addition to the above list of overt fighting in areas around the globe, we have had terrorist attacks in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, New York City (2), London, Madrid, Tanzania, Kenya, Bali, and Jakarta. To me, the new world war started with the US embassy seizure by Iran in 1979. It intensified and was brought home on September 11th, 2001. If we choose not to fight to win, this could be for America, the LAST world war…