War is not the Answer...

We are at war. It may not feel like World War ll. American factories haven't dropped their responsibilities and re-tooled to make tanks and shells. Glenn Miller isn't traveling around distracting young, dancing Americans from the brutal reality of war. There isn't a global alliance up in arms about the threat of nuclear dominance. We are still at war. As in Viet Nam, Korea, and the Persian Gulf we observe the war through media. In Iraq there has been a substantial amount of loss of life in the journalism profession. As a consequence it is more difficult in the War on Terror to get a sense of who the enemy is. I think there are similarities between "Charlie" and the "Insurgents." We don't see either of them very well. They rely on guerilla-type warfare practices. Insurgents are disguised within the civilian population. Rogue activities are being discovered in American troops. One difference is, to this point Americans have not turned against their military men. We are not spitting at them in the streets and yelling "Baby Burner!" For the most part George W. has been successful at keeping the promise of success alive. I applaud that, because to wake up every day in Iraq with your life at stake demands a thorough commitment to your cause. Is that changing? Are we beginning to see a more renegade type of behavior in our troops? Who is to say, but we must admit the war in Iraq is unconventional. It doesn't really seem like we are at war, but the existence of war predicates certain activities. One is the imprisonment of "detainees" at Guantanamo Bay military prison. The easiest way to shed light on this phenomenon is to change the title of detainee to POW, Prisoner-Of-War. I was glad to hear a commentator on CNN suggest we leave the Politically Correct agenda by the wayside. I, for one, am for that. Emotionally challenged or mass murderer? Economically deprived or poor? Follically limited or bald? The 1970's was a time of gritty realism, a kind of realism I prefer to the glamorized version being presented on television today. Back then there were junkies. There were whores. There was the mob, and there were hit men. We didn't need a "spin" to confuse the meaning of reality. We didn't have gaming software engineers trying to blur the line between fantasy and reality. What is wrong with recognizing reality? Sins and iniquities are a part of human behavior. They are what make us human. They are why we need a religion and a God to lead us in the direction of good. When society can see good versus evil, when we can see white and black, and truth versus lie you can get a sense of reality and yourself. Lose that depiction of reality and the result is chaos and confusion. Enter the millennium. Terror. Holy War. Jihad. Oil. Youth Violence. Fear. I do not want a Jihad Generation. I would settle for Generation X. After scrutiny it seems most of Gen. X turned out to be family-oriented, responsible people. What will become of Generation Jihad? I do not want to wait to find out. If it is symptomatic of the habits of our male youth generation as television suggest, Extreme Sports, X Games, X Men, and X Box it is time we as a nation stand up and guide the Gen. Jihad to a more human and rewarding existence. If Osama was an example, a misplaced, devoted youth wishing to serve Saudi Arabia in the war against Saddam, the Saudi government should have let him. Instead he got pissed off and raged war against the US. If our youth are in the same position, it is time for them to become empowered and take pride in a country that is their own. Instead of a Civil Rights Movement we can have a Youth Rights Movement. Let all the white-haired, conservative, republican politicians step down and pass on the septer of control to the future generation of leadership. Let's taste the bounty of success. The days of "getting what you can, canning it, and sitting on the can" are over. For our population to flourish as did the early state of Alaska, there needs to be abundance. Energy is not in abundance. Clean air is not in abundance. Clean water is not in abundance. Conservation is not in abundance. Love is not in abundance. Prosperity is not in abundance. I don't even know what abundance feels like. Instead we have superficial, commercialized television. We have political spin. We have corporate deception. We have war. Maybe the Hippie movement of the 70's is what we need again, a soul of humanity. Free love. Acid, and the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. Maybe we need some Jack Kerouac and some jazz. A cell phone sticking in the ear of every high school kid isn't getting it. Activism. Art. It would just be nice to wake up everyday with something familiar around.