Odds & Ends (Repost)
Joseph Canepa
message:
The current condition of the world is so sad with all the violence and
unnecessary loss of life and the prospect of a long protracted war on
terrorism. In the hope of maybe someone out there with authority might do
something that might change the course of history, let me note a few odd
comments and neglected ends.
The 20th Century started with the President of the United States proclaiming
that the US must intervene in the Philippines lest "Chinese half-breeds"
rule that country. This was consistent with most other world powers who saw
themselves obligated to rule those weaker than themselves. The Boar War and
the Boxer Rebellion were the preludes to World War I and thus to World War
II.
By 1910 or so, the Great War became unavoidable
Between the world wars, the most destructive book in the history of man,
received wide circulation in Europe. This book a collection of lies was The
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which was allegedly written by someone
within Czarist Russia.
Also between wars, Lawrence of Arabia (T.E.Lawrence) noted that the Arab
people, that he dealt with, had two common characteristics: the inability to
compromise and the lack respect for governments or institutions. Respect to
the people, that Lawrence dealt with, was person to person.
As a response to the massive slaughter of Jews by Germans, the West allowed
the formation of the State of Israel. The local inhabitants were not
consulted.
On the other side of the world, the United States, after defeating a foe
desperate enough to employ suicide pilots, established public health
measures which saved more lives than the total lost by that country, Japan,
in World War II combat. The one American responsible for the public health
measures would later advise his President that occupations never work in the
long term.
The 21st Century began with Tiger Woods winning the British Open by an
unheard of nine strokes.
A wag called into CSPAN yesterday and said that the Israel will never give
up its occupied territories as those territories happen to contain the
sources of water for that part of the world. Without water, the State of
Israel cannot continue to exist.
The New Yorker reported that the book, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,
is being widely circulated in Cairo.
An Englishman, Jason Goodwin, wrote a best seller about the history of the
Ottoman Empire, Lords of the Horizon. The Turks successfully used the
concept of an emporium within an emporium in controlling its empire.
Goodwin also noted that the provision within the Koran that it is better to
lose a prince rather than a province. A New York Times columnist, Friedman,
goes after the Palestinians for not using Gandhi's passive resistance
tactics, rather that sacrificing a few princes for the sake of a province.
Goodwin also mentions another concept from the Koran. The Koran says that he
who destroys fruit trees is forever cursed. A few weeks ago, NPR said that
for the first time in Afghanistan fruit trees were extensively destroyed. If
the United States destroyed the trees, does then the devote Muslim
population of Afghanistan and nearby Pakistan now believe that the US is
forever cursed?
The SEC is still yet to tell the American people just who profited from the
massive put buying prior to 9/11. The SEC has announced its readiness to
work with corporations on how far they can go in not disclosing the
corporations true financial condition. The SEC was and maybe still is
negotiating in favor of Arthur Andersen before the United States Department
of Justice. A leading Wall Street powerhouse fired one of its analysts for
advising client to sell Enron stock last August. Is Capitalism cursed?
Is a religious war between the West and Muslims now unavoidable?
All together these odds and ends might lead one to conclude:
1. A successful war on terrorism should be based upon knowledge and
predictability of the terrorists.
2. The first step here might be to thoroughly study Middle East history and
the Koran.
3. Another necessary step may be to identify the instigating enemy. Just who
bought the puts and who distributed The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in
Cairo?
4. No matter the rhetoric, people will ally themselves with those who save
rather destroy the lives of their neighbors.
5. Working with two principles, Palestinian autonomy and Israel security, an
individual, respected by both sides, might work out a permanent peace.
6. Capitalism, without effective regulation, could lead to economic
disaster, negating any military progress.
Joe Canepa
Kitty Hawk, NC