Tuesday, March 22, 2011

War By Chance

I awoke this morning and tripped over a new war that I had not noticed when I went to bed. There are several types of war:1.)War of conquest, the kind of war that if we were engaged in against Libya would have the clear objective of seizing their oil resources. 2.) War of liberation, where the clear end game is to free people from an occupying power (i.e.-freeing France from Germany in World War II) or a tyrant (as in Iraq being freed from the grip of Saddam Hussein). 3).War of self-defense, clearly the sort of war the US was forced to wage against Japan after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor or more recently against al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 outrage. 4.) War due to treaty commitments, such as the entry of France and England coming to Poland's aid in 1939 after the Nazi invasion. 5.) War of national pride, such as started over Jenkins' ear (and freedom of the seas as the larger issue) or over a football (soccer) match as once happened in Latin America. 6.)Defending the freedom of maritime navigation more broadly as in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War where Israeli shipping had been blocked from crossing the Straits of Tiran. 7.) Preemptive war which is on its face a more nebulous casus belli as it starts before one side has staged the attack which is supposedly being preempted.8.) Ethnic, religious, or tribal War which may lead to 9.) War of genocide as Hitler waged against the Jews. So which sort of war is the United States currently waging against the Qaddafi regime in Libya? With our nation so fiscally imperiled that the United States is beyond broke, what is the end game that justifies one more war and was that even a consideration for the Obama administration? With our fiscal house in such dread disorder, what does America gain from engaging in yet another costly conflict? How is the US paying for the Libya adventure? Are we merely printing fiat currency? This would simply devalue the dwindling dollar that much more. Are we actually adding the tally to what we already borrow from Red China? What an irony that America's stretch into Libya may leave us even more indebted to and reliant on Communist China. This Libya action is not a war of conquest. There will be no return for the dollars spent as we will never ask for any sort of reparation. Barack Hussein Obama has neither the intention or gumption to grab Libya's oil. Red China finds herself at least partially financing the endeavor although Beijing is against it and it conflicts with China's national and strategic interests. Offending the People's Republic of China is perilous for the United States and world peace and stability. Red China may take this opportunity with America so overstretched and ignoring China's desires to finally put their foot down. They may encourage North Korea to take further provocative action perhaps moving beyond South Korea to kick at Japan while she is down. Communist China may even conclude that now is the perfect moment to swallow Taiwan. What the future is to hold is of course pure speculation but with Obama weakening his own nation at home and abroad, the Red Chinese are bound to become more antsy. There is a chance of events spiraling beyond control with America poking the eye of our major foreign creditor as we seem to deliberately offend Beijing's interests. At some point, real problems may occur when Red China says "enough". As to which type of war America has entered into in Libya- with no clear cut objective, no exit strategy, and conflicting messages out of the Obama administration- only God knows.

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