it isn't fair

  I got up this morning and checked my Facebook page as usual, I saw several places where Trump says we have bombed Iran's' nuclear facilities. I haven't turned on the morning news as yet and haven't verified the validity of those posts. It is a source of annoyance that I feel it absolutely necessary to double check everything I see on there. I'm always further annoyed to discover that it is either completely false or slanted so heavily as to be ridiculous. I did do a quick check using Google and the facts seem to be that we did indeed attack three facilities. 

  That is surely cause for deep concern for everyone in this nation and indeed, the rest of the world. It's a very high stakes game, diplomacy by bomb! What will the reaction be? Whatever it is, it won't be good. There's this thing about war, no one plays fair. I have always been baffled by this concept, this idea, that there are rules of engagement. Yes, before the hostilities begin, before the first shot is fired, diplomats sat at a table and discussed this. What they discussed was the ways in which you could kill each other, and who you weren't supposed to kill. 

  Now it's true I have never been engaged in combat, never had to fight for my life. I can tell you however, unequivocally, without a doubt, is that I would use any means necessary to win that fight. No, I wouldn't fight fair. Would a nation do otherwise? History says, absolutely not. Eighty years go the United States used two nuclear bombs against the Japanese. That decision is still being debated  to this day. Did it end the war early, saving millions of lives, or was it just a horrific attack on civilians? That is the argument we will continue to have, heightened now by these attacks. No nuclear weapons were involved with this attack, the intent being to prevent the use of nuclear weapons in the future. Will Iran just acquiesce and remain peaceful? I have no belief that will be the case. They will fight, and it won't be fair, according to any rules, or with any concern for decency, humanity, or any moral and ethical codes.

  What does this mean to the average American? How will it affect us? I hear talk of sleeper cells and what terrorist acts they may attempt. It's a real concern, it's very real. It's my thinking a great deal of this hinges upon just how committed those folks are to Iran and the religion of Islam. Despite the cries of Islam is the religion of peace, as most religions proclaim, we are all aware that the "true" believers will take up arms! That commitment is something that is immeasurable. History is jam packed with instances of "fanatics" facing impossible odds, more than willing to die, for whatever cause they "believe" is true and just. The line between "believer" and "fanatic" is a very thin one indeed. 

  The big question and debate centers around whether we should be involved in any of that at all. We are in support of Israel. Are we obligated to intervene, to help Israel defeat Iran? Well, the same argument was being made prior to WW1. We had a policy of isolation then, we didn't want to get involved in any European conflict. There was much resistance to us entering the fray. We were drawn in by what? The Germans weren't playing fair, they were practicing unrestricted submarine warfare, which meant they sank our merchant ships. Why did they do that? They wanted to win the war by denying supplies to their enemies. They didn't care about the rules. Then, in the second world war we all know the Japanese attacked us, on a Sunday morning, without so much as a warning. In all the following conflicts, wars and police actions we have joined in because of diplomatic agreements. Those agreements made before the fighting began.

  The objective is preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. Currently they are nine nations that have that capability. There have been talks and negotiations among those nations to reduce their stockpiles and to prevent other nations from developing them. The claims are always we don't anyone to use them! We've all heard that argument, there can be no winner should those nucs begin to fly! There is much truth in that, it isn't an idle statement designed to strike fear in people, it's a scientific fact! Nuclear weapons, but more importantly perhaps, the ability to deliver them, is the biggest hammer of all. Is it fair to limit nine nations to that technology? It certainly is if you are one of the nine. And that's the thing with these nuclear weapons, it's like opening Pandoras' box, there is no putting them back in. How can we learn to live with them? I think the best we can hope for is setting a limit and preventing the spread. If that involves using force, that is what we will have to do. Yeah, it just isn't fair.