BODY POLITIC

WORLD WAR III CLOSER THAN EVER

The world has always been a dangerous place, and the past few weeks have been especially so. Taking the sum of events that are occurring around the world, we could be on the brink of a global conflict. Some political observers, including, Newt Gingrich and the New York Times columnist David Brooks, think that we are closer to World War III than ever. While it is easy to discount the sources, their points are extremely valid.

To wit, in Iraq, there is no obvious end game to the current United States predicament. In

Afghanistan, the United States and allies continue the fight against Taliban insurgents. In North Korea, the testing long range missiles without repercussions from civilized nations marches forward. In Russia, separatist movements continue to terrorize the country through random bombings.

In the mid-east, another round of diplomacy may not be able to cease the current battles. According to Mr. Brooks’s theory, many moderates that could once be counted on to cool tensions have been thrown aside in favor of radical jihadists with little regard for human life. Iran recently elected a fanatic who has vowed to destroy Israel and its people. Lebanon is the home to the terrorist organization of Hezbollah, and they are running the country through Iranian funding. Their recent actions towards Israel have not been limited to military targets, but to innocent civilians. In Palestine, Hamas is now the majority party and their past includes suicide missions as a means to press their message against Israel. In Syria, Bashar-al Assad is seen as a meddling repressive ruler who is doing nothing to curtail the unrest.

The fact that these regimes do not value human life is not a good sign. As long as they are willing to sacrifice human beings for their agenda, it makes rational discussion difficult. The United States is bogged down in two countries making its role as policeman much more difficult if not impossible, and Europe doesn’t seem to want to get its hands dirty. There are no moderates around the Middle East, North Korea and Iran go about their business unpunished, it may not be a World War, but it is truly a dangerous time in our world.