IS THERE AN END? The continued troubles we all continue to face daily throughout the Middle Eastern nations and, potentially, and several others in various areas around the world, make it seem that it is time for some basic changes in the manner in which we do things.
If the factions concerned have not decided to call a halt to their disruptive tactics is up to this time, then, it seems highly unlikely they will ever achieve any lasting peace. Drastic changes are needed.
It is true, of course, that these are not new problems and that the underlying causes are mixed into a complicated series of historical occurances far removed from the realities of our own day. It is difficult to re-do history. Some try it, but few are successful in any marked degree in such a dream project.
When it is obvious that an incident is based on something which took place centuries ago, is it not possible to rewrite the basic ground rules so it can be dealt with as something of a freakish nature? Just
because your Uncle Smedley wore a bow tie around his fat neck does not mean that his nephews must do the same thing today. Could be, I wonder, if "we" have miss-misinterpreted history and that some of the events said to have taken place, and conditions which are thought to have existed years ago were not as devastating as they may seem to have been?
To assume, for instance, that the "Holy Land", belongs to one group or to another, depends a great extent on who is telling the tale and from what perspective. The truth is often left untold, as we trust in factional accounts. Certain such questions as this may be brought before a world court of some type for a "ruling" on the subject which might help the cause of peaceful co-existence. Is such world bodies as the United Nations organizations can not be used in such cases of what value are they to us?
I agree that this sounds too much like our own "Special Prosecutors" setups to be practical if might prove valuable in bringing such problems before a world wide audience who are concerned in some way.
Just because things are accepted, or tolerated, does not mean they are good. Just because people have had dreams of homeland dreams and aspirations does not give them a right to usurp lands claimed by others. We have far too many groups with us today who claim to merit national status just because they exist, but who are, in very few ways, ready or qualified for self-rule. The number of "nations" - so called - which now glut the UN roles is a disgrace. We may well take some steps toward defining what a "nation" must be to be called one and expect to act in accordance with such justification. It is time to put our international "think tanks" to work on problems of mutual concern to all of us instead of hedging them about narrow parochial concerns. A re-evaluation of international precepts is needed. We can no longer afford to make decisions based which are based on 18th or 19th century beliefs, theories and aspirations.
A.L.M. July 14, 2005 [c553wds]
