Everyone knows President Obama, so I'll elaborate on the other individual in my title first. I watch a program called Sons of Anarchy. It's been called a soap opera for men. It has it's weak moments, but it focuses on a theme that I find interesting--power and violence. Actually, I obsess about it. In fact, I'd say that I think this theme cuts to the core of our existence.
Sons of Anarchy is a series about a biker gang, modeled loosely on the Hells Angels, that vascilates between its dual purposes as a social organization, and a criminal enterprise. This seems like a silly premise, but as a guy who likes to ride motorcycles and hates working, it seems completely reasonable to me--about one eighth of the time. Without belaboring the point, the tension in the program is derived entirely from the motorcycle club's need to dominate as a criminal organization, and the realization of this end. Put simply, if people or organizations undermine the motorcycle gang's, superiority or business interests, the gang must react. The tension and interesting plot points are generated by mistaken identifications of aggressors, or underestimations of the aggressors capabilities. And so, the audience, knowing all, finds it extremely frustrating when poor, or misinformed decision making leads the club into turmoil. Jax Teller is the unreasonably handsome, charismatic leader of that organization.
Barack Obama is the unreasonably handsome, charismatic leader of the free world. I think the American public seems to be behaving like an unruly motorcycle club. Until two months ago, we were war weary. Over it! Bring them home, even though most of us couldn't name one man or woman that was fighting on our behalf. Now however, we've become motivated. Two journalists have been beheaded and paraded on You Tube for the world to see. I do not want to minimize the loss of those two men. They sacrificed greatly, to show us the struggle of other humans, a world away. They have been disgraced, desecrated, and as members of our clan/club, the crime against them is a violation of us. Something must be done.
Two days ago, we commemorated the anniversary of the September Eleventh Attacks. We were violated, and we reacted. If it had been a season of Sons of Anarchy, the fans would have been anguished when the club president, George W. Bush went after the wrong guy. In the ridiculous world of Sons of Anarchy, the characters are forever misidentifying the actual aggressor, and starting gang wars that result in unfortunate losses of members and operating capital. I would argue that we, as Americans, did the same in Iraq. The expenditure in hardware not withstanding, the September Eleventh Attacks cost approximately three thousand lives. If you add to that the first responders that are still suffering and dying, that number rises to four and a half thousand. To date four thousand four hundred eighty six American soldiers have died in Iraq. Over two thousand one hundred seventy five american soldiers have died in Afghanistan. This does not consider coalition forces, or indigenous individuals loyal to the United States. I'll let you do the math, but if you take any hardware costs into account, it seems unlikely that even the most creative accountant could say we came out on top.
I'm not suggesting that any legitimate leader can allow or permit aggression against their organization. The critical path to success lies in meeting out vengeance in the most efficient, judicious, and meaningful way. That can be a tall order for any organization, or State. An effective response depends on three elements: Resources, Capability, and Resolve. The United States Armed Forces have the capability and resources to spare. The resolve comes from the American people, and it is in short supply. At this moment, we, as Americans are angry. We have the resolve to defeat the Islamic State. It won't last. Precisely for the reason we've become so united. We want to see action-vengeance for the murder of two journalists. With air strikes, we can mete out the vengeance we want. Then we will lose interest. As we should. We should return to work, building our economy, our capability. The strength of our economy is the strength of our army.
Our long term defeat of ISIL, or whatever you want to call it will not come on the battlefield. It will come in the workplace, and more importantly, on the highway. ISIL is financed almost completely by oil revenue. Defeating ISIL on the ground would require an open ended time commitment, and an acceptance of their terms. They ascribe little value to human life. We do not accept this term, but if we try to engage them on the ground we will be subject to it. In the end, resources win wars. We as a nation need to focus on that. Our leaders need to focus on convincing, or coercing our Arab allies into confronting this problem on the ground. I do not doubt that we have the capability or resources to defeat ISIL on the ground, I just doubt we have the stomach for it.
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