World War III

I haven't written in awhile because I've been so wrapped up in the Middle East conflict. Things look grim, and I hear "world war" tossed about. This is regrettable.

I don't have an answer to the conflict in the Middle East, but I still believe in adhering to the Broadway Doctrine. That doctrine states, "We don't start shit, but we will finish it." Unfortunately, I am not in a position to see this doctrine put into practice, but it will help explain the current mess that we have in the Middle East.

Basically, Hezbollah stuck its nose into something that wasn't their business. They crossed into Israeli territory, took two soldiers, and essentially, picked a fight with the Israelis. In short, they started this shit. People will argue that this or that shit was started long before, but this is simply stupid. Right now, traditional haters of Israel like Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have actually been sympathetic to Israel's plight. They are not happy with Hezbollah's actions. This is why they remain silent. This is a good thing.

But it is in the nature of Israel as well as the US to overstep in their retaliation. For instance, Afghanistan was justified. Iraq was not. You can expect the same thing with Israel. Pounding the shit out of Hezbollah is justified. Pounding the shit out of the rest of Lebanon isn't. It's like beating up a bully and then raping his girlfriend. Leave the girlfriend out of it.

Israel is probably going to expand this thing and retake territory and/or reinvade Lebanon. This isn't good or justified. This is how world wars begin. As it stands, Israel is given credit for trying to get along with everyone involved while Hamas and Hezbollah are the bad guys. This is probably the only good thing to come out of the "peace process." The conventional wisdom is that the pro-Palestinian side used all of the concessions that Israel made merely as a pretext for the present conflict. They were never interested in a peaceful solution.

The Broadway Doctrine might seem a bit pussified compared to the neocon position, but it is important. You should always seek peace first. Mind your own business. But governments don't do this. They almost always use these things as justification for grabbing power and territory. The Bush Administration post-9/11 is a classic example of this. To borrow some thinking from Nietzsche, people play the victim card in order to gain power. "Morality" is merely a pretext for tyranny. When you see someone whining and crying, never forget that those tears are merely camouflage for a sucker punch. Lincoln did much the same thing using slavery as a means to strengthen federal power. Cheney and Bush do the same thing with the Patriot Act and whatever other power grabs they have made since 9/11.

The problem with the will to power is that it results in endless warfare. This is part of the reason why we have this shit in the Middle East. It goes back to World War II which was a backlash from World War I. It just goes on and on. Everyone is justified in their tyranny because they have suffered at the hands of some other tyrant. The result is a ceaseless train of atrocities.

So, is this the beginning of World War III? Probably so.

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