A better way to War

Photo by: Tory Hallenburg (tlburg.blogspot.com)

I don’t know how much you pay attention to national news, but I like to read articles on BBCnews.com. I like to know what is going on in other countries it helps me feel apart of the world rather than just apart of America. The reason I ask though is because of what is going on in Jamaica right now, with Christopher “Dudus” Coke, the Jamaican government, and the people of Jamaica.

Christopher Coke is one of the worlds most wanted drug lords, and the Jamaican prime minister recently agreed to extradite him to America on drug/weapon trafficking and murder charges. When Jamaican police tried to apprehend Mr. Coke however the people of Jamaica began to fight against the government to protect him.

Seriously? The people are protecting a wanted drug lord who is linked to hundreds of deaths and kidnappings in Jamaica and around the world, the innocent and criminal alike are protecting him. Why? In one of the articles by BBC news Jamaican people were asked the same question, they replied by saying that Mr. Coke was there when they needed him unlike the government. One woman said that if your mom dies Coke buries her, the government taxes her. Another person said that if you need Mr. Coke you can find him, everyone knows how to get hold of him and he will listen to the people, but very few have ever even seen the Prime minister in flesh. The general consensus was that Mr. “Dudus’ Coke was doing what the government officials were not and that’s why the people protect him.

Despite who this man is and how he makes all the money he is giving away the people love him and are actively fighting the Jamaican government in order to protect him. Aristotle says that effective leaders are defined by their ability to show that they are for the people. If a leader can demonstrate actively that he cares for his people and that their interest matter to him, he will have the love and loyalty of his people. Obviously Mr. Coke has done this incredibly well.

Reading the articles about Coke and Jamaica got me thinking about America and our war on terrorism. America represents around 5% of the global population but accounts for nearly 49% of the military spending. Right now we are waging war in two places and pouring billions of dollars into the operation, we all know we don’t have the money and we all know we will continue spending what we don’t have. We also know that since we have been in Iraq one million citizens have perished, and I can’t imagine their families are happy about that.

What I am trying to get at is that maybe there is a better way to wage a war on terrorism. What if America had instead of invading Iraq in force invaded in generosity? What if we had gone in and spent money on schools, hospitals, and scholarships? Maybe if we had first invaded in a way that would better the country and help the people the Iraqi people would begin to think that America was for them in a way that Sodom was not. And maybe just maybe Sodom would have lost power as the peoples state improved and their view of America became favorable (in doing this we would probably spend less also).

Abraham Lincoln once said that if we befriend our enemies we also destroy them, why don’t we apply that philosophy to our foreign policy a little more often. Its just a thought, but its effective in Jamaica and that isn’t the first time a criminal has won the loyalty of a people he was using. Let me know what you think I am always interested!

Perception?

Did you know that the average American teenager will spend around 150.00 a week? Or did you know that 1/3 or Americans have a total of three vehicles? Or did you know that 3.5 Billion people live on less then 2 American dollars a day? I am just wondering if you wonder about this. Because I think in America it is easy to become separated from the real world to begin thinking that America is really all there is, or that everybody else is probably like us, or that its weird that people live on less then two dollars a day. In truth however there is only 300 million Americans where as there is 3.5 Billion people living on less then 2 dollars a day, it looks like we are the weird ones doesn’t it?

Now don’t take me wrong here I am not saying its wrong that Americans are wealthy because I am not. My only worry is that in our wealth and prosperity we will forget about the realities that are just beyond our border, and historically that seems like a dangerous thing to do.

It’s hard though; I mean it’s hard to think about other people around the world when you have so much to deal with right here. The more stuff we accumulate the more time we have to put into taking care of the stuff we have accumulated and the more stuff we have to take of the more stuff we need in order to care for that other stuff. It’s the cycle of accumulation and with all that stuff on our minds there really isn’t room for thinking about things that don’t directly impact us.

Isn’t that kind of egocentric though? I know that’s a harsh word but isn’t that what is happening here in America? If it is what’s happening in America we truly are in a dangerous place think of Egypt, Israel, Rome all fell shortly after they forgot others in order to take care of all their stuff. When stuff consumes your mind there isn’t much room left for other people, so we begin to forget that in amassing wealth and protecting that wealth we might be negatively impacting some other group of people. For example American consumes 20 million gallons of oil a day and imports the majority that. The Persian Gulf is a region with the largest oil reserves in the world Saudi Arabia being number one and Iraq a close competitor. The Persian Gulf houses some the most holy and important places in Islamic faith, how does it look to Muslims and Persians when America has invaded their holy places and is exporting their oil? I am not saying America is in the Persian Gulf for oil; but I am saying that perception is reality.

What I am trying to get at here is that if you have lost 1 million country men to an invasion a term like “Iraqi Freedom” looks different then if you are 3,000 miles away talking about freeing Iraqi people.

This is just my train of thought; I am not saying that it is right or wrong just that it’s on my mind. What’s on your mind? What do you think about all of this? Am I totally off base here or am I not following the leads to the inevitable? I want to know your mind on these issues because I am truly working it all out right now.

P.S Micah 6:7-8

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I offer up my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good.

and what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.