Change course
We have to learn that alienation of other countries is the underlying cause of terrorism that has necessitated the so called "War on Terror"

November 15, 2006
iranian.com

"When will they ever learn?" There are great lessons to be learned about the downfall of the Republican Party that was mainly due to failure of Iraq War. Had only one of the architects of Iraq war read the book The Art of War by Sun-Tzu, one of the greatest Chinese war writers in 400 B.C., they would have learned this invaluable piece of wisdom, "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win!"

Imagine how much money and how many American and Iraqi lives would have been saved if we did not ignore mankind's history and repeat it time after time in fighting most of our recent wars; Korea, Viet Nam, Gulf War, Iran-Iraq War, the so called "War on Terror", just to name a few and still contemplating to get into new ones! The question is why do we allow a few extremists make a mockery of wisdom, insight, truth and the American Ideals by venturing into unchartered territories without the knowledge of their culture, history, geography and other vital statistics, even pronouncing the name of the country in question during Information Age!

The most important lesson here is to replace the divisive and extremist motto of Axis of Evil to what I call the Triangle of Evil-a universal basis of all evilis- Hypocrisy, Ignorance and Arrogance-HIA!

While it is important to learn from those terrible mistakes, it is more important to cease the moment and congratulate the American public for their victory in the midterm elections. The loss of patience of erstwhile non-voting and apathetic but decent, generous and forgiving Americans and their record turnout in the elections was an indication of the fact that they no longer wanted to subscribe to "stay the course" policies and archaic and un-informed decision making in a dynamic country and a dynamic world! I congratulate my fellow Democrats and myself for this victory after running a website against extremists in America for the past six years. I am thankful that these rulers failed to take America back to the dark ages.

The great American people got tired of turning another cheek and each time get slap harder by the very same team that had promised to make America better. They took their country back when push came to shove. The extremists were heading in the direction of taking the word "people" out of the "government of the people" that was taking them to one-man rule that was defying the American Constitution, Bill of Rights and other unique privileges that are accorded to the people or individuals only in America.

In a post-election interview on CNN, Tom Delay said, "We have not lost, the Democrats have won!" And when the president was asked for his reply was; "Well, I am still the Commander in Chief!" And let us not forget Rummy's remark right after his resignation or firing-we never know which, who compared himself to Winston Churchill as an icon of taking criticism and trying to go down in history as a statesman! I cannot go in detail into everything that will be the subject of history books

But, I do like to point out a few other take-home lessons from this defeat-temporary or long term, depending on our post-election vigil to keep the extremists at bay or their undermining the victory of the people. Here are a few examples of how the so called Republican Revolution was out of touch with the reality even after their downfall:

While we are on the lookout we have to concentrate on repairing the damages done to damages done to America. We should be wary of the fact that although we Democrats have won, we still have some hawks among us who will continue to harbor the same philosophy that we just rejected. If unchecked, those policies can take us back to square one and status quo and invite more disasters and defeats. We should try to find the facts and get involved, learn from history and go forward. We should do what our president did not do. When asked whether he reads books, he said, "I do not read books, I read people!"

We have to learn that alienation of other countries is the underlying cause of terrorism that has necessitated the so called "War on Terror." In other words we are most unwise to create terror and then fight it! It is as silly as punching someone in the nose for no reason and then use their natural reaction as barbaric and uncivilized. We have to understand that the colonial mentality of the extremists does not work in the present global arena. We must no longer destabilize our world by invading other countries with no reason or fabricated reasons of our own. We have to understand that almost all people are decent and they only resort to terrorism as their last resort.

We have to recall our own history particularly where the founders of America were called terrorist by the colonial power they deposed. The people who are inducted into life of violence are the deprived generations of the lands whose resources were siphoned out when their parents were not educated and their rulers did not care in exchange to sustaining their rules.

It is most ironic that we resort to the same methods of exploitation that even the former colonial powers have abandoned. While we justify our trespassing other people's territory and branding those who defend their land by absurd name such as "killers who hate our freedom and our way of life" we have to remember that America is the nation whose Thomas Jefferson said, "resistence to tyranny is obedience to God." America deserves much better than being almost the only nation whose extremist policies are despised.

It is noteworthy also that when it comes to the people, even the so called "uncivilized" people of the so called "rogue nations" love the American people and understand that their people have been taken for a ride by the extremists. Why do extremists choose not to trust the simple human nature that unless people are provoked they never show violent reaction. Basic goodness of mankind is embedded in the American Ideals and the American value system and the world wants them to be upheld.

I hope that we have learned that "stay the course" policy was only making the already bad situation worse by contributing to more violence. By ignoring history the extremists were knowingly or unknowingly repeating the history. Please read the following piece of history and see how the extremist policies matches it:

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fever, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all their right unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done and I am Caesar."

Domestically, we should yet quit another archaic "divide and conquer" policy and split this nation of immigrants along its seams and into its components. Or, Bang more drums of war by blaming the immigrants for all of our ills and resorting to erect another China Wall at our borders in an increasingly interdependent world. America can ill afford to curtail the freedom of its citizens by Patriot Act and surveillance without warrant. Such measures are un-American and lead to self-destruction of America, to say the least. Almost all legal immigrants, and ironically some illegal ones have escaped tyranny and chosen America-Land of the Free for that reason-freedom and opportunity. Who is to say that they should be discriminated against because they did not come on May Flower! The overall and per capita contribution the immigrants relative to their number have been higher than average. They have been a source of new ideas, new energy and vitality and a breath of fresh air without whom America would not be America that is today.

As educated and informed public is an integral part of government of the people, we need to treat public education as a national defense instead of coining fancy names in the name of rather than for education. Example is the "No Child Left Behind" that for most part has failed due to lack of funding. We have the wherewithal not to educate and inform our people but the whole world with a budget that would be like a drop in an ocean as compared with what we spend on weapons of mass destruction. We have far less reason to fear an educated people. As Thomas Jefferson said, "enlighten people and tyranny of body and mind will disappear like evil spirit in the dawn of a day."

Speaking of funding we have to balance the budget and take our huge national debt very seriously. A per capita share of national debt of about $30,000 is indeed scary. This waste of resources and letting the future generations pay for it or the use of social security funds constitutes the best means of total bankruptcy and self-destruction. In proportion to their number almost all immigrants are among the most educated and successful people and have a duty to get involved in searching for a new direction for America for the simple reason that we have vested interest in it. We have the responsibility to make this a better home for ourselves and our children and grandchildren for whom America has become a primary home.

While there are several groups among us who work tirelessly to promote good relation between America and our mother lands, unfortunately or naturally there are also a minority who are opportunists. They are in America only to make money and to them loyalty to any country does not mean much. They cooperate with the extremists to achieve their objectives. We have to do all we can to reduce the possibility of their making a living hell out of our world by continuing the present foreign policies.

Albert Einstein said, "I know not what weapons will be used in World War III, but I know that World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." It was his power of projecting the future when he uttered those words. Another great American, Ralph Waldo Emerson predicted a grim future for mankind when he said, "The end of human race is tht it will die of civilization." The bottom line is that no gadgetry and sophisticated weaponry will make our world safe if they are made without considering ethics, wisdom, history and human nature.

For more on these subjects please visit my website that has been up for the last six years to promote moderation and prevent extremism that espouses hypocrisy, ignorance and arrogance: Comment

Visit Ali A. Parsa's TerrorismAndHowToStopIt.org