A Failed State, And When To Let It Die

The term "failed state" has many interpretations. It is generally assigned to nations that cannot sustain order through responsible government, infrastructure, social programs, or protect itself from military sources outside of the popular army. For instance, when rebel forces topple an already weak government, the people generally flee, creating a refugee situation. This is the case in Syria at the present.

In the case of Afghanistan, they haven't been given the opportunity to flourish on their own due to international interlopers, bent on robbing them of the potential mineral assets their land could possess. The puppet government that the US has installed is largely ineffective; as usual. The greatest question that remains to be answered is what will become of their sovreignty when the American death squads and hunters depart? Have we doomed them to failure?

Once again, American greed forced upon a culture through war has yielded little. The largest consequences for the invaders amount to over three thousand dead troops, and possibly three times that number of wounded. The most common statistics I can find for civilian deaths in both Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001 are approaching one million. Those are unarmed people like you and me, having bombs dropped on them indiscriminately. The terrorists who pulled off the 9/11 event, whether foreign or domestic, killed around three thousand. I wonder if this can be looked at rationally as disgustingly disproportionate force. What exactly is the goal? Democracy? I don't think so. It is intentional destabilization with intent to profit from a sovreign nation's mineral wealth. Why buy it when you can steal it?

Anyone can find that information on the news or the web, but does it cause anyone to take action against our government? Not much. Remember, we deposed Sadaam Hussein for genocide. The estimates in my research average around two hundred thousand. Again, we find disproportionate force from the great empire in the West, no trial, no weapons. US efforts have left yet another country in disarray. American judgement is fierce and lop-sided.

There are always consequences to our actions. The money and life wasted during "Operation Enduring Freedom" have already caused dire circumstances in the US. Since 9/11 the defense department has spent $1.2 trillion. Granted, some of that money was used for reconstruction of the infrastructure that the military was compelled to destroy in order to neutralize other military intervention. Insurgents have adopted a policy of destroying anything we build. What could that price tag have afforded our economy? How many of my brother's friends could be walking around today, breathing? None of that matters now. Our government has forgotten what makes them tick.

A nation is in it's most vulnerable place when it takes the road we are on. The closer our government comes to complete paralysis, the closer we come to insolvency. When that happens, and they are unable to keep up with the basic operations of our country, decline is inevitable. In the real world, they would have a credit rating below five hundred, yet they spend away the future. We are not impervious to internal strife no matter if you pay attention or not. A failing economy, and hungry citizens can easily take on the face of war. Our borders can easily be re-defined. Instead of one nation, we can become multiple nations, none of them under God. Survival of the fittest will always be true, so let's hope that we can remain at peace with each other. Until then, think about who the real terrorists are; one of them might live next door.

Photo credit: RAWA.org

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