Instablility

"Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish in the crowd." -I Ching
Being an initiate to the mysteries of history, I am aware of the fact that at no given time in recorded reality has human society ever tended toward order at the exclusion of chaos/anarchy/destruction. In fact the two trends seem to feed off each other with a symbiotic ferocity that is the primary culprit for the epic bloodletting and insanity of the past few lifetimes. The more our organized and disciplined societies build and create the more falls victim to desolation and exploitation. Granted going to the moon was a rather awesome thing to do with your time, but the logic behind it was purely a need to prove the superiority of our system over that of the Soviets. After the USSR threw in the towel NATO breathed a huge sigh of relief only then to realize that spending astronomical amounts of resources on the time honored European tradition of organized violence and its partner in crime- Nationalism. During the Cold War most European colonies where decommissioned into ungovernable and easily manipulated satrapies wherein all that was often need to continue the process of resource extraction and selling their manufactured goods to a dependent market was to maintain the militaries of these so called 'countries'. This of course has been known to backfire in cases like Idi Amin, Gaddafi, Saddam, Shah and plenty of others; but having said that it certainly does wonders for justifying a military supremacy of apocalyptic proportions. It seems that the West actually needs a few conflicts kept at a low boil in order to exert its moral, economic and military authority over the rest of the world. Countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Afghanistan are excellent examples to all those would be truly independent countries out there that the Industrialized world still has the power to go into any corner of the world, or to quarantine it off and let it die a long painful diseased death. The justification for the interventions of the modern post Cold War era are essentially the same used in the last great Imperial Era 1870's-1914 minus the overtly racist Social Darwinism dimension, which has apparently become such a well ingrained part of Western thought that it isn't necessary to openly discuss why exactly brown people are our natural subjects ,enemies, and/or desperate dependents. The sheer fact that the terms of trade demanded by the IMF, WTO and all other international trade organizations are based on blatant hypocrisy to such an extent that only people in the so called developed who enjoy the benefits can possibly believe in it. As the economic conditions become more challenging for the wealthy world mark my words concern for the human rights of those in the undeveloped parts of the globe will hit a new all time low. The fact that the system is also breeding poverty and social decay right here in America as wealth is consolidated and unemployment reaches 10%, as well as 2,304,115 were incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails in 2008 and 92,854 held in juvenile facilities as of the 2006 Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP). I guess Napoleon's old adage 'divide and conquer' is still about as effective strategy as ever.

Rumors of their deaths and our victories have been greatly exaggerated

The way that the US Military has conducted the so called 'War on Terror' is really more of a popularity contest than a legitimate counterinsurgency. The whole premise of the invasion was to go after one man, an excuse that was essentially used in Panama and Iraq as well. Ever since it became apparent that we wouldn't be catching Willy Coyote (bin Laden)there has been no shortage of hardcore renegades to assassinate. This last week it was claimed that the popular Hakimullah Meshud had been killed in a drone attack inside Pakistan. The 28 year old had been the most vocal and visible leaders of the Pakistani Taliban. He had only recently taken over from Baitullah Meshud (droned while at Father in Law's house in August 2009) whose popularity had led some analysists to refer to him as the unofficial Amir of South Waziristan. Seeing as how both had multiple false death claims made of them it isn't certain whether Hakimullah is actually dead. He had gained great notoriety by attacking supply convoys of NATO on their way through Northern Pakistan and also for being responsible for the daring suicide attack that killed 5 CIA agents in Afghanistan a few months ago. This strategy of trying to cut the head off the hydra of resistance has produced a long list of Martyrs that have made the cause sacrosanct for those that lived to fight another day. Interestingly, the two men that hold the most sway, Mullah Mohamed Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani seem beyond the reach of the drones and their missiles. Most intelligence reports seem to agree that they are both living in the city of Quetta in the Balochistan Provice of Pakistan. This predominately Pashtun city is in the province of the Baloch tribe, which the government has no desire to get involved in bloody fighting as it did in 2005 when it lost 60 soldier and 7 officers when they went to capture Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a tribal leader of the Balochi. After the fighting had ended and the Pakistani troops approached the 79 year old Sheik he detonated the explosives he had been strapped with before the battle began. Quetta is supposedly a very nice city with wonderful flora and fauna in its wonderful parks with a nice lake making the mile high city rather beatiful. Being right by the border with the most volatile province of Afghanistan, it is an ideal place for a renegade sheik trying to fight a bloody war of attrition against the most technologically advanced military in history.
"don't give me your alms, just save me from your dogs"
-Pashtun Proverb