After the nuclear holocaust.

 So what would I do about the mess in the Middle East?  First, I would initiate an intelligent conversation here in this country about the Middle East.  It would involve thousands of years of very confused history and it would step on a lot of toes.  The reason that is necessary, is that a sensible US policy, that can be sustained into the future, requires an America that actually understands one of the most complex stories imaginable and is willing to pursue the sophisticated, difficult and expensive policy set that is required long enough for it to be effective.  Imperfect though it is, America is still a democracy and an informed public is necessary for an informed and sustained foreign policy.

A while back, I served as Political Advisor to the Commanding General of all US military forces in all of Europe, East and West, all of Africa, and all of the Middle East.  I decided that I needed to better understand the Middle East in order to do my job.  One of the things that I did was go to Jerusalem, and, on alternate days, take a tour of the exact same historic sites with first an Arab and then a Jewish guide.  It wasn't history, but it was an eye opener.  Another thing that I tried to do was discuss Arab/Jewish relations with representatives of the two cultures currently serving in an official capacity.  Never was I able to break through the hostility on either side of the divide to discuss possible compromises, and I tried mightily for the four years that I served in that capacity.   I faced the exact same mindless hostility that I face today in this country when I try to talk conservatism to liberals or liberalism to conservatives.

The same cultural ignorance clouds our understanding of all of the other ongoing conflicts that are alive and well in the Middle East and the rest of the world. The result is that our actions are driven by the hap hazard arrangement of issues that confront us at the moment, and we are knocked around as the various “situations” interact with one another, adding to the infinity of confusion.  A Saudi born journalist working for an American newspaper, is murdered in Istanbul and we brand the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia a pariah until we decide that we want more Saudi oil and think that it would be useful if he and an Israeli political leader, that our president does not like, should be good friends.  Meanwhile, out here in the hustings, we are trying to decide if we like a megalomaniac more or less than a confused little girl.  Never do we discuss anything meaningful.  In fact, we actively forbid that conversation as being harmful to our precious feelings.

And, at the same time that we squabble about the proper age of the fetus, the price of gasoline, the sign on the bathroom door, our “leaders” meddle ineffectively in wars all over the globe that they do not come close to understanding.  Ukraine, Gaza, Somalia, Venezuela, Haiti, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles ….  Men like Putin, Xi and Biden actually have their fingers on the nuclear button and you and I hide in our house hoping that somehow things will get better if we just elect the right leader.  In a few months we will usher the senile old man out of office and replace him with either “The Donald” or “The Brat.”  At that point our work will be done.  We can go back to “democratically” squabbling about our feelings and telling our foreign friends how to fight their wars.  You and I adamantly refuse to face reality, preferring wishful thinking instead.

We are an infinitely stupid people and we have been just clever enough to invent the tools that we need to destroy ourselves.  The question that intrigues me the most is what humanity will look like after the nuclear holocaust, but I sincerely hope that it happens after I and my loved ones leave the scene.