World War Three....

A week before 9/11, I was providing some anti-terrorism training to some border guards from the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. After an afternoon of what started as mild interaction that became quite involved, a Colonel from the Uzbekistan border contingent said something to me that stuck. He told me that World War Three had already started, we (the U.S.) just weren't committed yet. A week later, all that changed... and yet our commitment still wavers. I find it almost amusing that people like Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity are talking about World War Three now. They are right, but that is how far behind the curve most people are. Even from where I stand, I can see feeble excuses for preparation and training for no other reason than to be able to play CYA. Vice President Cheney said something after 9/11, he said that in this war, mistakes will be made. He was right, but he said that in order to foster an environment that rewarded forward thinking and pushing the envelope. In all good things, mistakes are made, they are fixed, and it becomes better. Unfortunately, those playing CYA, tend to promote the status quo and the nation suffers.

Now we have the Israel-Lebanon situation. If you take the mainstream of both peoples, you have tremendous similarities that can build and strengthen cooperation. Calmer heads should prevail and return the three Israelis, and things might settle down. So what is the problem, there are two. Among moderate Muslims, the possibility of peace with Israel can be seen. The same can be said among most Jews, who have grown weary of a constant state of war or wartime footing. One problem is the Israeli hardliners who ask for the return of three men, who may be dead, and the demand was made taking that fully into consideration. The other problem is deeper, there are those among the Muslims that will never accept peace with Israel, they do not seek diplomatic solutions, but their diplomacy comes from the blood lost from the bullets and bombs. There is no other way for them. As long as these fundamental Muslim insurgents or terrorists remain a factor, there will be no peace... ever.

Israel now has the opportunity to reduce Hezbollah and Hamas to much less of a threat and are justified in doing so. The tactic of taking out targets in Lebanon, may force actions against Hezbollah and Hamas by Muslim forces, which also works in Israel's favor. It should be noted that there are fundamentalists moving into Gaza from Egypt. Ask yourself, who would move into this hot area except for combatants. Anyone with common sense would be going the other direction. Make no mistake, there is only one force to be reckoned with in the Middle East from a military stand point and that is Israel. They have the weapon systems to take on anyone who challenges them. They have our weapon systems. If Iran and Syria become involved in a less covert manner, you can expect the environment to become much hotter. There are those nations calling for Israel to show restraint; Israel is showing restrain, because if they become unrestrained you will see a scale of destruction that hasn't been witnessed in a long time and remember, they will be using U.S. weapons to conduct their attacks.

What does that mean here at home? Ask yourself, does this instability and open conflict make it more dangerous for the people here in the United States? Of course it does and that is why we need to be aggressive in our preparations and start pushing the envelope when it comes to training those who safeguard the nation at the borders. Superior training by those who have the ability to conduct it. You just can't throw numbers at the borders, you need the personnel and the best training for those who have chosen to serve in this capacity. Any less is dereliction of duty and compromises the safety of the nation.

BT