from the complex to the simple?

In his commentaries Julius Caesar wrote " Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres...." Our modern Caesar would say something more like "All the world is divided into three parts: the US, our little brothers" (the rest of the rich), "and the wilderness" (probably 80% of the world's people). Often that wilderness might seem as close as the other side of the fence. In our own little piece of this world not too many of us would think of ourselves as rich, though statistical comparisons might say we are. And the really rich have conscripted us to go along on their forced march to tame that wilderness.

Part of that wilderness is terrorism. This is a fuzzy concept since one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. The British have occupied Ireland, or part of it, for800 years, but the IRA are considered the terrorists. Apparently we are in an endless war with a tactic, a very sobering thought. The 9/11 disaster was a heinous crime, and it is not at all clear why it can't be dealt with as a crime. Why does it drive a country to an endless war, against whom? And what tactics are allowed in this war? Is a man a terrorist because of who he is, or the views he espouses, or the actions he performs?

In the Palestinian elections,the turnout was 77% of registered voters and Hamas won 57.5% of the seats. This would mean that 594,000 Palestinians supported terrorism and are giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Is this how we should view the Palestinians? Just where would we lock up all those people?

For years there has been an ongoing problem in Gaza with weapons being smuggled across the Egyptian border through underground tunnels. In our own country, the tunneling seems to have a different purpose. The Palestinians want weapons to fight the Israelis; we want drugs so we can tune out our troubles.

Today's news shows both how confused yet divided we are. It's hard to change horses mid-stream but we can at least turn around when we find the water too deep. Or is it better to drown than correct mistakes? It's all so complex and confusing. Perhaps we need to return to fundamentals, stick to what helps or hurts us, decide what is right and wrong. Picture the Pakistani who came home from work to find his house destroyed because our government wanted to kill terrorists in the one next door. What if "our" government did that here in the US and you came home to find it was your house that was "collateral" damage. Some may be old enough to remember Philadelphia where a block was destroyed in a fight with militants. But that was before our war on terrorism, so none of those people suffered rendition to a country with a lax legal system.

Of course, our own legal system is getting lax to some. If I can't trust myself, I can't trust you. And if I do trust myself I certainly don't want you spying on me. Maybe it's time for us to grow up and act our age. If we want to be at war with most of the world most of the time then we'll choose one path. And if we want peace and tranquillity we'll choose another. But we need to choose and not let Caesar roll over us.