Understanding the Enemy

[Ken White]

that we all do things in our own way and that I'm pretty sure that there's no way to gain the depth of understanding you appear to be seeking, though I certainly hope you succeed. I don't think I've done that very well -- proving yet again that one mans answers may miss another question...

All I can tell you is that 68 years after 07/12/41 I have far more questions than answers. My defining moment precedes yours by a bit, my wife's younger than I am and hers was the Kennedy assassination. To both of us 9/11 was a minor incident but we understand it was defining for many -- including our daughter who missed earlier traumas. Each generation -- in each nation -- gets its own defining issues. Consider there are people who do not even today know what 9/11 even refers to. Life is complicated that way.

Having acknowledged I have questions and few answers, I obviously am not one to tell anyone where to go -- but that does remind me of the old saw; "My get up and go has got up and went but I sure can grin when I recall where my get up got up and went."

On that note, I can tell I have nothing worthwhile to contribute here. But then you probably already knew that.

[MikeF]

I just jest with you b/c it's fun and you have a lot of knowledge to share...with that said, others read what we say...

I think Emerson sums it up best

In truth, undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable. We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy. Every man’s condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put. He acts it as life, before he apprehends it as truth. In like manner, nature is already, in its forms and tendencies, describing its own design. Let us interrogate the great apparition that shines so peacefully around us. Let us inquire, to what end is nature?

[Ken White]

That's it -- You Left Coast folks can stay up a bit longer but us senile old east coast coots are off to the sack. Mo' later...

Take care.

[MikeF]

Yeah, I know... What else can I do? The Army decided to send me to school.

Coming of Age

When the storms come along, most people run inside the comfort and security of their homes. As a child, I thought like a child. I stepped outside and gazed. I never knew why, but I loved the storms. I simply allowed the cold rain to penetrate my soul. As a man, I think like a man, and I’m starting to understand. The true beauty of nature is contrasted in the messy, wicked, dynamic and hostile nature of the storm. The marvelous breath of God flows along. I cannot run away. I am drawn. I step outside.

When the winds brew over the Monterey Bay, everything unravels. The quiet tranquillest spins out of control. Sands spews across the beach, seagulls fight to maintain their form, sailboats sputter back and forth, and the waves crash along the shore. Zooming deep inside the periphery of the surface is another never-ending chaos. As the wave crests and slams back into the ocean, thousands of sea-creatures, plants, and organisms absorb the shock. It is neither right nor wrong; it is neither good nor bad. While most run to the safety of shelter, I am magnetically drawn to the sea. I have to stand in the chaos and absorb the Messiah’s wonder. It is who I am. In the midst of the turmoil, I am centered. For a moment, everything makes sense.

It is part of the cycle of life- the yen and yang that ebbs and flows.

Sometimes, the storm rages with Allah’s fury; sometimes, tsunamis and hurricanes form ravishing the land and consuming life. Yet, eventually they dissipate. The sun will rise the next morning, the damage assessed, recovery in process, and life moves on.

It is what it is.

I was never supposed to go into the Army. I was early acceptance to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Duke considered me to wrestle for them. Although I was merely a product of the North Carolina public education system, I thought that one only went into the Army if one could not get accepted into college. It was the1990’s: the Clinton years, the boom of Microsoft, and the Peace Dividend in the wake of the Cold War. I was supposed to go to study business, join the fraternity, marry the sorority girl, earn an MBA, join the country club, and work my way through the social network of the good ole boy’s club until I was living on the eighteenth hole. This path was all too taken; it was all too calm.

Instead, I moved to the storm. I did not know it at the time, but I was being drawn to Zaganiyah. “I chose the path less taken. It made all the difference” (Frost). This misnomer is common about those that serve. We are not deprived; most of my boys had more degrees than me. We choose to serve, and we have no regrets. We are proud. For a moment, we become the man in the arena.

As with the natural condition of mankind, over time we swell with the pride of nationalism, disdain for our neighbors, or coveting of another’s property. In those times, we make war. From the secret jealousy of Cain to the collective madness of Hitler’s Germany, we murder one or millions. This decision is reached regardless of the state of modernity, industrialization, democracy, or rationalization- it is part of the cycle of life. John Locke’s social contract becomes void.

We enter a state of compartmentalized psychosis, and it can only be resolved by the sword.

It is what it is.

Zaganiyah reached this Break Point. After years of suffering diminished their humanity, the Sunnis of Zaganiyah turned on their brothers, the neighbors, and themselves. They banished some, occupied their homes, stole their belongings, and farmed their farms sending the produce across Iraq and into Jordan for profit. With others, they brought their children to the town square and cheered as the severed heads were displayed. They gave thanks to Allah for their victory. They gloated in their moment.

Once again, I stepped outside into the storm. I would not run away from the sound of a gun. My boys would follow. As with the witch doctors of old, I recognized this diagnosis was fatal. I would bleed it out. It nearly cost me my soul.

[MikeF]

Katy wrote this...

Round I walk, only questions to bide time
Searching, longing- but for naught
Sweet whispers of her breath call for me
I cannot reach her. Grasping, clutching,
Naught but hope. And so I wait,
Aching, bleeding.
Keep strength and rise sweet moon
Rouse dreams of quieted passion,
Kiss them sweetly and dance
Let not sun send them to bed.
Fly sweet loves, breathe her breath
Be filled with her, she is precious.
I will find her. By chance of quest
I shall learn her secrets. But now
For now, sweet whispers, sing me to sleep,
And rise sweet moon, rouse my dreams.

[MikeF]

Problems are a fact of life. They are life. So is endurance. We Sheep Dogs just need to train the Sheep a bit... - Ken White

Where do we go from here? With radical acceptance, we can discern where to intervene. Reagan alluded that we were the shining city on a hill. He never suggested that we must convert the rest of the world to suburbs. I submit that it time to take measure of others intentions whether pure or deceptive. We can only help those that first desire.

Ask not what your country, lest you are prepared for what to receive…Ask what you can do. Strive stubborn strife.

In the absence of zero-sum, eventually philosophy and abstract thought must merge towards policy. Once again, attitude is everything. Regardless of intent, desire, or virtue, we cannot help those who refuse to help themselves.

So what can we do? Sometimes the voice inside our head must scream “STOP” so we can refocus. Sometimes we simply have to feel.

Once you face death, once you overcome your fears, then you are free to live.* These are the lessons that I've learned....

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. More is less, less is more. Light in village; heavy in urban. Strykers medium fill the void. I will go in this way and find my own way out stepping outside a box never really in. Shadows subside as storms pass…Walk with me once more…For a moment, give me voice; it takes two to listen.



I apologize for my conjecture...I'm simply trying to connect the dots...

v/r

Mike

[MikeF]

In his final address, George Washington cautioned us to avoid treaties with other nations and to evade meddling within others internal affairs.

Conversely, as Andrew Jackson secured the office of the President, we evoked Manifest Destiny beginning a process of neutralizing or eradicating the ancient Native American tribes. Later, Roosevelt flaunted the Great White Fleet stirring Japan’s reach. What fire burns in such sweet sorrow that forces the perpetual dilemma?

Recently my friend inquired, “How are you so certain?* How do you know?”* I can neither express nor articulate the intuition flooding through my damaged hippocampus pouring south along the tributaries of my brain stem, channeling through my broken thyroid, and merging into my heart swelling in calm warm springs like the hot baths of Big Sur.* The dam burst.* I just know. It just is.
In a world of uncertainty, chance and circumstance are masked by notions of reason and rationale.* Some things are best left undefined.* All things considered, some mysteries are left only to God.* They just are.* How does a squirrel know to spread the tree’s seed?* How does a rooster know when to crow?*

Does it make me crazy to believe that the dreams of my youth can unfold after all that I’ve done, all that I’ve witnessed, all that corrupted?* Certainly not.* Quite possibly, the crucible of tragedy tempers the coal melding rough and coarse into beauty sparking creative thought. Maybe we simply must let go of expectation, dream with arms wide open, breathe deeply, and embrace the storms.* The storms bring rain, but they also bring rainbows. Maybe one cannot appreciate the rainbow unless he has walked through the storm.
This is how I know. This essay (or maybe it is simple conversation) will explore our collective national thought and attempt to expand towards a refined diplomacy and policy. I will continue to rely on my individual experience as that is my field of expertise. Hopefully, conversation will be generated and new ideas emerge.