War and Peace: What it the heck is wrong with us?

Unavoidable signs of a world-wide collapse in civilization are everywhere to be found. The signs are prolific throughout Europe, The Middle East, the continent of the America’s and into Asia. It would be insulting to the intelligence of my readers to plough through the laundry list of all of the related problems, but at the heart of them all exists one single toxic seed: The seed of “I’m right and you’re wrong.” In different terms, that characteristic is called self-righteousness or simpler yet, “Egotism.” I have written much about this driving force that’s pressing us all toward the abyss, including in particular three books, More Over, The Non-Identity Crisis and The Other Side of Midnight.  All of them are cut from the same bolt of cloth. Their consistent theme is one of misidentification: Not understanding the true nature, at the core, of what it means to be human.

A return to a doctrine of one of the most enlightened humans of all time may help in informing this message, and I refer to Nagarjuna (c. 150-250 CE) who made a significant contribution towards grasping our essence, which was later developed as Buddhism, moved from India into China where it linked up with Taoism. The second of these tributaries evolved in China with the life of Bodhidharma who seems to have brought with him Nagarjuna’s teachings, as well as the Lankavatara Sūtra which followed many of the tenets outlined by the consciousness only school of Yogacara. Whereas Nagarjuna is known as the father of Mahayana Buddhism, Bodhidharma is considered as the father of Chan, which subsequently came to be known as Zen. Nagarjuna established the philosophical foundation and Bodhidharma rooted the tenets into psychic turf. The tenet was (and is) known as the “Two-Truth Doctrine” and works out as follows.

Nagarjuna said we all live within two truths: A conventional truth and a sublime truth. The first truth is, and has always been, clearly evident. The second truth is not, and has never been evident, yet the second is the source of the first and these two are irrevocably cemented together. His exact words were, “Without knowing how they (sic, truths) differ, you cannot know the deep; Without relying on conventions, you cannot disclose the sublime; Without intuiting the sublime, you cannot experience freedom.” 

The first truth (and surprisingly the second as well) is binary, meaning composed of two dimensions clearly distinct and opposite from each other. This is the basis for discrimination (or perhaps in less inflammatory terms), the ability to discern differences between one thing and another, such as right and wrong. And when the matter of self-centered judgement is added to this truth, the result is selfishness, opposition, inflexibility and in many cases violence. This is the realm of conditions, one set of conditions set against another set, and since conditions are, by nature always in flux it is impossible to remain steady without judgement.

Then according to Nagarjuna, we must become aware that this conditional realm is different from the realm of the sublimely unconditional. The curious observation about this awareness is that, since these two realms are polar, the realm of the unconditional is not binary, yet the relationship between the first and the second is. The unconditional is the realm of unity, tranquility and equity, whereas the realm of the conditional is one of disunity, hostility and selfishness. Unfortunately, we average humans are not even aware of the realm of the unconditional sublimity and assume all that exists is the realm of conditionality. That’s the first error of Nagarjuna’s doctrine: not knowing they are different, because knowing anything requires contrast, but even when recognizing there is a second truth (and how they are different), that kind of knowing remains a figment of the imagination, in other words, rational. 

The second, and most important aspect of his doctrine, is that so long as we don’t “intuit” the sublime, we will never gain freedom and thus remain in a bondage, governed by discriminatory conflict. Now the interesting thing about intuition is that it is a transrational (metaphysical) experience of emersion into pure, unapplied consciousness.  Applied consciousness is one of rational distinction, judging one thing in contrast to another, and nearly without exception ending up in conflict. However, while in a state of pure, non-applied consciousness, there is nothing to compare since it is a realm of united, unconditionality, where we experience oneness with all.

Sadly, the major source of conflict in the world today (and perhaps forever) is rooted in the three political/religious combinations of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, all of which share common ideas regarding God and our human beginnings, while none of them practices the peace to which they aspire. Religion, in the ordinary sense, by the assessment of many, is the major source of continuing violence throughout time. In the words of Mark Twain, “Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out...and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel…And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for ‘the universal brotherhood of man’—with his mouth.” 

And the songs we sign harmonize with mantras like, “Onward Christian Soldiers,” “Allahu Akbar,” or ones that shout to strangers that they alone are God’s exclusive chosen flock. And not a single one realizes the unity that resides in the heart of all of human kind.

Conservatism is:

Do Bears Shit in the Woods?

That answer to the rhetorical question is just as obvious as the following: “Does authorizing passage of the Keystone XL pipeline work against the interests of mankind?” The answer to both questions is a resounding YES. Which brings me to our satirist Mark Twain who said, “There is no distinctly native American criminal class save Congress,” and “Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”

To fathom this seeming complexity (which is anything but complex) all we need to do is understand the most long-lasting human driver of all time: Money, or more specifically greed! Who gains and who loses when Keystone XL pipeline choices are made?

Our President is facing a conundrum: Approving continued construction of the Keystone XL pipeline (which allegedly will produce American jobs and reduce the price of oil), while at the same time honoring his commitment to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases that exacerbates global climate change. If there is a mother of all conundrums this must be it.

Several matters contribute to this enigma. First comes the jobs issue. By all intelligent measures permanent jobs created by this construction project (meaning ones that last beyond construction) will be short lived. Best estimate is approximately 35 full time jobs, some of which will occur in Canada. It is true that during the construction stage, the estimate is somewhere around 42,000 jobs. Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for a coalition of pro-Keystone groups known as Oil Sands Fact Check, is quoted as saying: “You build it, you move on. And that’s the nature of any big construction project, be it a highway or monument.” 

Next comes the matter of exacerbating the phenomena of global climate change. It’s a well established fact the Canadian tar sands oil are the dirtiest on earth. According to the Climate Action Network (Canada Reports on Tar Sands Expansion), not only is the oil produced in Alberta dirty, so are the Canadian politicians who promote the project. And according to Climate Action Network Canada, the tar sands oil are, “Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas pollution.” 

Lowering the price of gas in the U.S.? According to a recent article in the Washington Post, not only will tar sands oil NOT reduce the price, there is a strong probability the price will end up increasing the price of gas sold in the U.S. 

This brings us full circle back to the initial motive: “Who gains and who loses when Keystone XL pipeline choices are made?” The core of the answer concerns vested interests in seeing the pipeline completed. And amazement upon amazement, it turns out to be our familiar Billionaire entrepreneurs the Koch Brothers. According to The International Forum On Globalization (IFG) and the Washington Post, the Kochs are “the biggest foreign lease holder in Canada’s oil sands” with the outlook of earning $100 billion due to completion of the pipeline, which more than explains why the Kochs have invested $45 million (a mere .045% pittance compared to potential gain) in buying control of Congress, and echoing MT’s commentary: “We have the best government that money can buy.”

Three days ago the Senate defeated the bill to authorize completion of the Keystone XL pipeline but promised passage once the newly elected Republican majority is installed in January 2015. But should this not be a moral concern to Republicans, who now, more than ever control to shape of the environment we all live in? Not at all. After all, the vast majority of hard core Republicans deny any human contribution to the matter of global climate change, in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. And again our satirist rises to the occasion: “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” Among these deniers are, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, West Virginia governor Earl Ray Tomblin, Florida governor Rick Scott and Senator Marco Rubio, all of whom claim “they are not scientists” and thus have no opinion on the matter. This is a bit like a human saying that because they aren’t scientists, they’re unsure if they breathe air.

The odds of a bright future in the U.S., and in the world, are degrading quickly and if bribery is King, the King makers are the Koch Brothers. And who are the losers? You guessed it, all of us (including the Kochs). Unless an unknown means of having an environment for some and not others suddenly appears, ALL of us will be affected one way or another by the choices made by our newly elected Congress. Do bears shit in the woods? Answer that for yourself.

Nobody to blame.

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” MT

Now that the majority has spoken, it is indeed time to pause and reflect. The Republicans are now in control of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Our president has offered his congratulations to the victors and extended his willingness to work “across the aisle.” This, however, is nothing new, and thus far has made no difference. When one side is agreeable and the other isn’t, the dominance goes to the down side, regardless of willingness.

There’s a vast chasm separating the ideology of the parties. The proposed Republican budget—Paul Ryan’s Pathway to Prosperity—is in essence based on the “Makers and Takers” philosophy established by his heroine Ayn Rand. While Ryan has flip-flopped and recanted his adoration of Rand, his stance has hardly budged in expression. Typical of Washington politicians, Ryan has blown with the winds of perceived public endorsement but has nevertheless clung to his heroine’s ideology in building his budgetary house of financial cards.

The bottom line: The top 1% wins and everyone else loses, thus reinforcing the idea that “Winners” can miraculously create prosperity with no support from those who enable them. While this idea should send shock waves throughout the land, in a back-handed, and most bizarre way, it’s a good thing Republicans are now in control, since they will now have no one to blame for the choices they make. It will be a grand experiment and reflective of the outcome illustrated by Kansas Governor Brownback. His plan, contrary to intension, has set the future of Kansas finances and fairness back to the dark ages. Never mind, however, he was reelected and promises more of the same.

The expressed mantra of Mitch McConnell to make Obama a one-term president didn’t work but you can’t begrudge a guy for trying. Now we’ll have the opportunity to see for ourselves whether Republicans will last one term, and more importantly if we the people will survive. No excuses now.

Political Smoke and Mirrors.

“All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity.”  MT

The drums of war are beating. The ISIS threat is whipping public support into a frenzy. With short memories we tend to forget (1) that we created the mess in the first place (See: my six part series that ran from Sept. 27 thru October 7) and (2) waging war is THE most expensive matter in which any nation can get engaged. The glaring hypocrisy here is that the same people who have clamored for reducing the deficit are the very same people who now ignore the costs of waging war (to attempt to undo the mess they created) and want us (other people of course) to put “boots on the ground.”

A most enlightening web site is The National Priorities. The site shows, in real-time, what we are spending to fight wars and what we’re giving up. The Federal Debt is concerning and presently stands at $17.877 trillion, and rising. For that reason both political parties have established a priority of reducing the debt, but in very different ways. For the most part the Republican approach is to slash social programs, give greater tax breaks to the wealthy and increase discretionary defense funding.

Most recently House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has released his Pathway to Prosperity budget proposal which is filled with assumptions that will undoubtedly never materialize. Nevertheless his estimate of reducing the deficit and reaching a balanced budget in 10 years is most appealing to Republican voters, during an election year. A couple of seeming pros to his plan include eliminating the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) and increasing discretionary defense spending by $483 billon over the next tens years. We must bear in mind that Mr. Ryan’s proposal was built before the ISIS threat became front and center. So let’s take a close look at just these two proposals without considering the devastating impact on citizens resulting from his plan to slash social programs.

According to the CBO (Congressional Budget Office), at this stage, contrary to the gloom and doom projections of the Republicans, Obama Care is resulting in a net savings to the government of about $8 billion per year. To eliminate this program (as Mr. Ryan proposes) would not save money, but would instead end up adding to the federal debt by that $8 billion per year ($80 billion over the ten years). Nevertheless it’s human nature that once someone takes a stand they will continue to demand that reality conform to their views.

The other proposal (increase discretionary defense spending by $483 billon) may be woefully inadequate if we persist in waging another war. In his just released book—Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace—Leon Panetta says,“Americans should be braced for a long battle against the brutal terrorist group Islamic State that will test U.S. resolve—and the leadership of the commander in chief.” And what does Panetta mean by a “long battle?” His best guess is 30 years. Given that extraordinary period of time, it would be worth our while to count the cost. 

In most everyone’s considered opinion our current campaign of bombing only is costing U.S. taxpayers $3.12 billion/year. Add ten years of that cost ($31.2 billion) to Mr. Ryan’s $483 billon and we’re looking at some serious pocket change ($514.2 billion—over ½ trillion dollars). This, of course, assumes current bombing levels which nobody expects to continue. The costs and sacrifices will just increase, as they did in Vietnam. “Mission Creep” is always a reality to which no politician will ever admit . 

THE key fiscal issue here is, “where will this extra money come from if Mr. Ryan’s Pathway to Prosperity is adopted?” If it is, the middle class will be obliterated, everyone except the super wealthy will join the bottom financial tier (with no benefits) and the wealthy elite will continue (as they do currently) avoiding taxes altogether. 

Typical of political projections, it’s all smoke and mirrors. “Figures can’t lie, but liars will figure.” MT

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.

The proverb most people are familiar with is, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” However, the proverb needs a time stamped expiration date, meaning that nearly always taking sides against one side, results in the other side turning against you. Witness the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with the CIA to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Bottom line: It worked, for a time, but eventually the mujahideen metastasized into numerous versions of what we know today as radical Islamists (one of which is the Taliban and another ISIS) using the military hardware we supplied turned against us: expiration date. 

According to globalresearch.org, “Washington supported the Free Syria rebels who aligned themselves with the terrorist group called Al-Nusra to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Then the Syrian rebels, and other groups in Iraq, form another terrorist organization who call themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The consequences of Washington’s policies of aiding the Syrian rebels, including ISIS, have served a purpose.” The question is, whose purpose? 

The Al-Nusra Front is otherwise known as, “The Support Front for the People of Al-Sham,”: al-Qaeda in Syria—a branch of al-Qaeda operating in Syria and Lebanon. Get it? Bashar al-Assad (General Secretary of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba’ath Party in Syria), an acknowledged enemy of the U.S. and ally of Shiite dominated Iran (an acknowledged U.S. enemy), is opposed by the Free Syria rebels. They align themselves with al-Qaeda in Syria (also our enemy), we support both and one part is spun off to become ISIS. In the meantime we arm and equip the “New Iraqi Army” (mostly Shiites) at a cost to U.S. taxpayers of some $25 billion. Then the Iraqi Army quickly cut and ran against the well equipped ISIS forces, who then acquired all of the costly military hardware we supplied to the Iraqi Army and used it against us. The question is thus, whose the enemy? Better yet, whose the ally? 

Mr Twain never spoke truer words than these: “There has never been a just war, never an honorable one—on the part of the instigator of the war. I can see a million years ahead, and this rule will never change in so many as half a dozen instances. The loud little handful—as usual—will shout for the war. The pulpit will—warily and cautiously object—at first; the great, big, dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes and try to make out why there should be a war, and will say, earnestly and indignantly, ‘It is unjust and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it.’ Then the handful will shout louder. A few fair men on the other side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at first will have a hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long; those others will outshout them, and presently the anti-war audiences will thin out and lose popularity. Before long you will see this curious thing: the speakers stoned from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of furious men who in their secret hearts are still at one with those stoned speakers—as earlier—but do not dare say so. And now the whole nation—pulpit and all—will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease to open. Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”

There are many twists and turns that happened after the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bremer fiascos but history will show that none of them mattered. All that matters is ISIS is here, and now and we can take credit for that. The question now becomes, are there any allies, or is everyone an enemy who we didn’t create?

Sun Tzu’s prophesy—Not knowing ourselves.

Discord in the ranks.

The other half of Sun Tzu’s prophesy—not knowing ourselves, concerned Bremer and the distorted views of Rumsfeld—his immediate boss. Bremer held an exalted view of himself. His distorted view of the Iraqi people extended to him as well. He took pride in equating himself as another Douglas MacArthur, or General Lucius Clay, who’s roles seemed to him to parallel his own in occupying and rebuilding Japan and Germany following the Allies destruction of both. At the same time, Rumsfeld repeatedly underestimated force levels necessary to suppress the burgeoning, tumultuous insurgency that Bremer had stirred up. Bremer, and the rest of the world, soon discovered the significant differences between his job and that of his role models. 

While similarities existed between the Iraqi and Japanese occupations and reconstruction, the differences proved to be more critical. Bremer didn’t “let the sleeping dog of dormant, yet buried religious animosities lie.” What had been suppressed was fanned into a roaring inferno due his miscalculations concerning Sunnis and Shiites. 

He failed to heed Twain’s admonition concerning religion and politics: “I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man’s reasoning powers are not above the monkey’s.” In the case of the U.S., dividing church and state is foundational to running a democratic government. It didn’t work in Iraq, and may never, due to deeply imbedded religious roots. Given the declared goal of ISIS (to create a caliphate) it seems improbable that separating church and state is in the cards.

Bremer’s first order of business was to establish the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and under the direction of the Bush administration, he proceeded to carry the initial destruction onward to political/religious structure of the people. And this in turn eventually entailed banning all intellectual contributions stemming from the Ba’ath party (an arm of Sunnis in Bremer’s view) and dismantling the Iraqi Army, a force of roughly 400,000 soldiers, all of whom then had no means of earning a living. 

Three years later in 2007, there was a huge debate occurring in Washington concerning troop levels. At the time General Eric K. Shinseki concurred with General John Abizaid. Both believed more were needed. “First vilified, then marginalized by the Bush administration after those comments, General Shinseki retired and faded away, even as lawmakers, pundits and politicians increasingly cited his prescience.” The criticism was particularly vociferous coming from Rumsfeld, his deputy—Paul Wolfowitz, as well as politically inclined Pentagon leadership. The hard line resistance by Rumsfeld that more troops were needed proved both wrong yet accepted by the political administration.

In September of that year, a press release was submitted by Bremer as a New York Times op-ed. titled How I Didn’t Dismantle Iraq’s Army. Bremer said he didn’t make the decision on his own, and that the decision was reviewed by “top civilian and military members of the American government,” including Abizaid, who briefed officials in Washington, saying there were no more “organized Iraqi military units.” Bremer’s article went further into how the Coalition Provisional Authority considered two alternatives: 

(1) To recall the old army, or 
(2) Build a new army, 
“both to be vetted members of the old army—code for no Sunnis—and new recruits.”

According to Bremer, Abizaid preferred the second alternative, thus escaping personal condemnation by passing the buck to Abizaid. What Bremer excluded from his op-ed was what Abizaid also said: “I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I’ve seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and that if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move towards civil war.” History has proven both Abizaid and Shinseki right and the Bush political forces wrong. The intense wangling between the politicians and the generals typified Sun Tzu’s prophesy of not knowing ourselves.

Some have crucified Bremer for his individual errors, such as disbanding the army, refusing to employ skilled, mostly apolitical Iraqis (who were banned from holding positions in the newly formed government), and for alienating the Iraqi people into opposing religious factions. But these blunders, while significant, are not the reasons why most Iraqis hated the American occupation and supported violent resistance to it. The main grievance most Iraqis had with America was, and is, simply the occupation itself—an occupation that lingered on years after Bremer waved goodbye. To watch a Frontline video covering this debacle click here.

In the next and final post in this series, we’ll look at how we iced the cake of ISIS emergence and pounded the final nail into the casket of moderation by implicitly aligning ourselves with another Sunni enemy—the Shiites in Iran and those of the Syrian butcher Bashar Hafez al-Assad, President and General Secretary of Syria, and Regional Secretary of the Ba’ath Party in Syria—Saddam’s party, the very one we fought to destroy. MT was right about “...in matters concerning religion and politics a man’s reasoning powers are not above the monkey’s.”