Afghanistan Failure

Writing about the United States withdrawal, more resembling dismal surrender, from the twenty-year-war in Afghanistan is going to be difficult as a United States Army veteran, as a human being viewing great suffering, and as a citizen of one of the nations potentially placed into danger of increasing terrorism. Almost every single update reveals new information about who knew what and when, who ordered such a large amount of top-line military equipment to be surrendered to the Taliban and other acts of incompetent malfeasance. Even listing each and every failure over the last six-weeks, if not six-months, is next to impossible as they are legion. Still, there are the few errors which are so far beyond the pale that they stick out head and shoulders above the rest, and we will examine a few errors and ramifications of the Biden pullout from Afghanistan.

Probably the greatest of tactical military blunders is the surrendering of Bagram Air Base which led directly to the liberation of Parwan Detention Facility and the thousands of terrorists and America’s enemies detained therein. The release of these ‘people of interest’ into a population where they can melt away only to form-up and plot attacks on the Western World, Israel and especially opposing Arab and Islamic nations not following the Taliban version of strict Shariah should be a concern for everyone. Also, about the surrender of Bagram Air Base also muted any ability for immediate responses to any situation using air power. This was probably the second largest reason for the apparent chaos around Kabul International Airport and its single runway. Bagram Air Base, by comparison, has a pair of longer runways and is located centered in open area making defense far superior to the situation in central Kabul. Lastly, the majority of plans provided to President Biden included retaining the Bagram Air Base in order to retain deterrence against the reforming of the terror groups including but not limited to ISIS, al-Qaeda and the Taliban and project real power for any future situations including terrorist plots to attack the American mainland.

Hamid Karzai International Airport Last Call in Afghanistan

 We have read about how military advantage after advantage surrendered away by President Biden gave the appearance that the obvious ineptness was intentional. The Taliban rapidly and steadily took control of regions including numerous major cities and regional capitals. Refusing to retain control of Kabul, the American plan was to hold only the airport and surrender control over who reached Kabul International Airport to the Taliban. This led directly to the catastrophic terror bombing at one of the gates killing thirteen American service heroes and nearly two-hundred Afghanis including numerous children while injuring numbers beyond those reported by the media. As far as many could ascertain, the sole overarching motivation pressing decisions made during the withdrawal appeared to be which is the fastest means to get all military forces back to the Embassy and Kabul International Airport, subsequently only the airport after losing the Embassy. These plans were the reason there was no pushback to the Taliban advance and performed with such urgency that a vacuum was left in the wake of the withdrawal allowing for the collapse of all Afghani forces who were being denied the necessary air cover and support they depended upon.

The most egregious malfeasance was leaving United States citizens, and to a slightly less extent our Afghan allies and translators, behind on the ground and behind Taliban enemy lines. There should have been numerous escort squads of United States Rangers allowed to go out into the Taliban controlled regions in order to bring every last American out who desired to leave Afghanistan. Please do not believe the mistruths and propaganda which claims that only one or two-hundred Americans remaining in Afghanistan under total Taliban and other terror groups rule as the math does not balance. We were initially informed that ten to fifteen thousand American citizens remained in Afghanistan desiring to be taken home as promised by American Military Code. Only orders from the Commander in Chief, General of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Defense or Central Command in the Pentagon would allow for such actions. Now the United States Military, one of if not the finest in the world, has to wear the stain of leaving Americans behind to the tender mercies of the Taliban, et al. The only pertinent item affecting us directly is the placing of ourselves and all Israelis in greater danger of renewed and rejuvenated terror attacks from Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Sinai Peninsula, Syria, Jordan or from the Mediterranean Sea. Further, the weaponry, including combat vehicles, C17’s, Blackhawk Helicopters, machine guns, armored vehicles, night vision scopes, sniper rifles and unbelievable amounts of other material and supporting materials as all of Bagram Air Base was left completely intact will be used against the free world. There are and were so many egregious blunders committed during the withdrawal and ensuing vetting of thousands of Afghanis who had received no clearance or even background checks, that it pains us to even think about the entirety of the Afghanistan disaster, let alone writing about them. Thus, we will allow the news, for the time being, to try and ignore Afghanistan as if it occurred years ago.

Beyond the Cusp

Terrorism Rant Over the Obvious and the Less Mentioned Truths

 

President George W. Bush set the bar low and in the wrong direction after the great terror attack of our time, the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, to simply continue on with our lives as normal. He started the message which has become ubiquitous with the aftermath of any incident, namely the “Islam is the religion of peace.” President Obama carried these ideals and messages to the next level when after virtually every terror act we heard the identical message from virtually every media outlet. The first item they would come out with was that each terrorist was acting as a singular event and thus was a “lone wolf” such that there was no conspiracy or driving effort behind each attack, these attacks always had nothing to do with Islam, and we were to be especially careful not to permit any act of terror to mold our perception of Muslims and as such we were to be particularly sensitive to prevent any acts “driven by Islamophobia.” The sustained message was always to make sure we disassociated the terrorist act from Islamic influence and were to be particularly sensitive to any act of Islamophobia. That message would resonate for days and potentially weeks after the act depending on the severity of the attack and the death toll. A subsequent message has been added specially for people when Donald Trump became President which called for the complete separation of any act of terrorism from the immigration policies President Trump proposed. Immigration temporary ban from trouble spots such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia or other nation mentioned in President Trump’s plans intending to set up a system where potential immigrants would be better vetted. That would have included the New York bicycle path vehicular murders where eight people were murdered and another twenty were seriously injured by an Uzbek immigrant, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, who arrived on one of the special “diversity visa lottery program” where people enter a lottery for expedited entry into the United States from nations which might otherwise not receive entry as easily. We were, in this particular case, given the entire treatment.

 

Just to see how accurate the usual path actually fits this one attack, thus dictating how far down the path we are supposed to travel, perhaps we can look at others along the way. Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov was said to be a “lone wolf” with absolutely no ties to any terrorist group. Perhaps this was why he was heard yelling, “Allahu Akbar” and reportedly asked for an ISIS flag to be hung in his hospital room. We also know from ISIS instructions on-line and through their propaganda reports, CD’s, tapes and other material often available for the asking at the correct Mosque once you have proven yourself to be a true believer, that car or vehicle rammings is one of the acts of terror they recommend for its efficiency and ease of execution, but this has no connection to Islam. The problem of Islamophobia is ever present after any terror attack and the networks and local new coverage teams either already have or will request for a person from one of the Islamic Mosques or Houses who will relate their terrible treatment and being made to feel like they were despised or suspected of being a potential terrorist and the horrific looks and stares to which they were subjected. The people chosen for these interviews are often a couple dressed in clothing which depicts them as Muslim and they often are carrying an infant or small child who has a wide eyed innocent look and they convey extreme trepidation for the camera. Meanwhile, there were far more reports after the 9/11 World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks accusing and explaining and showing “evidence” of Jewish, Israeli and even United States government collusion in the attacks. There were reports of conspiracies such that the planes were empty of people and instead had additional explosives and volatile fuel additional to the normal fuel tanks and that the list of people supposedly on the aircraft were made up as were the names of the terrorists done in order to drive hatred for Islam and Muslims in the United States. It was done by the Mossad working hand-in-hand with the Central Intelligence Agency.

 

We are supposed to separate the terror attacks from Islam, organized terror, and all other evidence and reality. Islamophobia is presumed to become ever-present to such an extent that the entirety of the public must work to prevent such baseless fears. No matter what the actual person committing the acts of terror are prone to saying, there is no actual proof that these individuals, the word individual is vital so we hear it often in descriptions, may claim, all evidence is they had no direct ties and never were trained on how to commit such acts of terror. How gullible does one have to be to believe that a person would require a trip to some remote location in the Middle East or Africa where they are given a twelve week intensive training on how to rent a truck and then drive it into a crowded bus stop, a mass of people celebrating an event as in Nice, France, down a well traveled bike path killing and injuring dozens or any in a series of such attacks in Israel and around the world. The future terrorist would be given instruction on how to start a truck, what to do if they flooded the engine, how one aims a truck, how to swerve just enough to hit bus stops, light rail stations, bicycle paths or just drive onto sidewalk cafes plus yelling “Allahu Akbar” with the correct reverence. They would be given advanced classes on jumping curbs and medians, planning and timing of attacks, how to strike preferred targets such as Jews, maximizing bumper impacts for maximum carnage and finally different ways of ending your ramming experience. Here they would receive training in driving off and ditching the car, leaving the vehicle and knifing bystanders with advanced training on chainsaw usage, fleeing on foot, or even how to end with a bang using explosives, both in the vehicle and wearing a bomb vest. Of course, the school for the advanced studies of vehicular terrorism issues certificates including any advanced classes one required or volunteered to attend. Of course these terrorists simply followed basic instructions and there has to be some form of connection with so many demanding ISIS flags hung in their hospital room, ISIS flags draped around their apartments, ISIS handbooks on how to execute the perfect terror attack, ISIS Islamic worship books and Qur’anic copies from ISIS with particular verses highlighted and various other items all from ISIS or other terror groups such as Hezballah, Hamas, IRGC and al-Qaeda.

 

Flags of Hezballah, Hamas, al-Qaeda and IRGC

 

There are also the diaries which tell of their decisions to carry out an act of terror attack, their swearing allegiance to ISIS by filling out a form on-line, one must stay modern, and all the particulars such as choosing the correct target and other preparations and then most important, burial instructions in case one were to die, instructions which very often demand a terror flag to be place on the coffin depicting their specific terror entity to whom they swore their allegiance. Despite the avalanche of evidence that the terrorist was acting in faith with a terror group, we are told they acted completely alone without any instruction, guidance or affiliation with any terrorist entity. This lone wolf tag on each and every terror attack is vital if the government is to continue with their instructions that there is nothing to see here, move along, make sure this does not affect your Christmas shopping and live life as if this never happened because if you do take notice and connect all the dots, then you might demand that government do something about this problem, take real and effective actions. Imagine that, the government actually addressing the problem of terrorism or even noticing there may be a problem. Government would prefer that the sheeple simply act like ostriches with their heads in the sand and ignoring the obvious signs which tie all these attacks together. So, let’s review the signals; using a vehicle to run down people, ISIS and terror organization pamphlets at home, ISIS or other terror flags in house, demand terror flag to decorate hospital room, yelling “Allahu Akbar”, self-confessed member of terrorist organization, and ends by attempting to stab as many people as they can run down.

 

Ostriches with Their Heads in the Sand and Ignoring the Obvious Signs

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One might ask why the government spends such an enormous amount of energy to prove that every terrorist attack is committed by individuals with no affiliation with a group with a terror-structured group. The reason is actually the most obvious of reasons, if the terrorists were organized, then there is in existence an organization against which to fight. If the terror is organized the government would be obliged to take action, but the government does not wish to have to act, as these organizations are often found in places difficult to attain permission to attack. Further, if the government took on fighting them, they would necessarily cross borders and actively engage the terror entity within some nation. In many cases, the terrorists control the government of the nation in which they train or have its cooperation. Take Lebanon as an example, Hezbollah all but runs the government as is a major party in the ruling coalition. To fight Hezballah one would be required to also fight against the Lebanese Army as well as Hezballah and further, Hezballah would be given access to all the weaponry and armor of the Lebanese army which includes United States Abrams main battle tanks. The Lebanese fly Apache helicopters as well as having numerous modern Russian equipment, which is far more modern than was expected. The Taliban takes their refuge in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The United States would likely never get access to any Pakistani lands. Finally, the IRGC is the Iranian military foreign special tactics and strike units and to attack them would be to declare war on Iran, even should they be engaged in the Tri-Border Region of South America. The tri-border region is formed by the cities of Puerto Igauzu, Argentina; Foz do Iguazu, Brazil; and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay and includes two airfields, training areas, weapons ranges, live fire zones, and is beyond the control of any of the three nations’ police or military capabilities. So, unless the United States or Israel was invited by a sovereign government to assist in the eradication of terrorist entities causing difficulties in their area, they are powerless to do anything.

 

So, where might we expect that such an agreement might be reached, and between who? There are numerous places where the United States might be called upon to assist, the question then comes of what benefit would it give Washington D.C. beyond getting a reputation as a terror remover service, which would not necessarily be a bad thing. The terror entities operating out of Pakistan and Iran are and will likely remain beyond the reach of the United States unless they desire a much larger conflict with nuclear-armed nations. Currently Iraq and Syria are under Iranian control along with the Russians who are working alongside Iran and Bashir al-Assad in exchange for naval facilities on the Mediterranean Sea with access to the Atlantic Ocean. That would place these areas beyond United States reach and even more-so as President Trump withdrew United States support for the one group in the region who would have accepted an American military presence and likely have welcomed such and paid it back with dividends in the future, and those were the Kurdish People in both Iraq and Syria. Unfortunately, so as to please President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and whoever else demanded this retreat, President Trump told Turkish officials that the United States would end aid to the Iraqi Kurds to make sure they would not aid the Syrian Kurds. This also means that the United States now has absolutely no interest of group through which they can affect anything in Iraq, Syria or almost the entire Middle East and have thus empowered Iran to become the hegemonic power of the Middle East and we believe they will not stop there. The United States has some number of troops throughout central Africa mostly in Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia with the bulk of the troops in Niger and Nigeria fighting against Boko Haram, a terrorist groups sworn to ally with Islamic State or ISIS. Another place where the United States is engaged fighting terror is on the southern island of the Philippines, the Isle of Mindanao. The one remaining place where terrorism is out of control is in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. There was the recent terror attack which took the lives of at least two-hundred-thirty-five Egyptians and injured at least one-hundred-ten others. The al-Rawda mosque in the town of Bir al-Abed was targeted during Friday prayers by first detonating a bomb and then assaulting with rifles with full automatic capability, mostly AK-47s. One of the injured reported he saw at least twenty men with assault military weaponry of the kind associated with terrorists, namely the aforementioned AK-47. This is another place that the United States could offer to assist in cleaning out the swamp of terror that the Sinai Peninsula desert has become. This could end up having Israel enter into the war as the Sinai Peninsula does share a border with the Negev Desert and there is little difference between the two in appearance and the entirety of the border is not marked though much of it is fenced. Terrorists have attempted to infiltrate Israel from the Sinai Peninsula before with varied success. Those which have succeeded attacked buses, cars and other targets drawing Israeli responses as required and according to the level of the assault. The possibility of Israel and Egypt working together to clean out the Sinai Peninsula exists but is remote at best. Despite having signed a peace treaty, the peace has been kept but at a low level, one might even call it a very cold peace, very cold.

 

So, as we have seen, the opportunities for the United States to fight the root causes of terrorism would be the initiating of another world war between the Christian West including the Secularists against a resurgence of Islamic forces which have reawakened and are stretching and extending their testing feelers in the form of terrorism and finding the Western world no longer having the intestinal fortitude to fight. This has led many in the Islamic World to conclude that the time has come where they will be able to conquer Europe possibly without a fight. They see Germany opening their borders to “refugees” which many in Islam have seen and even utilized this gesture of humanity to infiltrate Western Europe sending attack squads and even entire company strength terror forces such as the massive attack on Paris. The Paris assault was larger but very similar to the assault by Pakistani terrorists on Mumbai, India. The precision and timing of the Paris attack proved that the terrorists learned from the Mumbai attack. This implies, if not outright proves, that the terrorist entities may have numerous names but in reality break down into three or four groups spread over large areas with separate names in each area but operate in cooperation sharing information and tactics such that useful information is distributed. The different groups likely would be aligned first into Sunni and Shiite. Even there, there is an overlap as Hamas works with Iran as well as the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood also is al-Qaeda, Taliban and likely also has ties with Islamic State. There are those attached to the Wahabbists which also includes the Islamic State and Taliban. The Pakistanis are largely aligned with al-Qaeda and Islamic State as well as ties to Saudi Arabia. The Palestinian Authority (PA) which includes Fatah, PLO and has been drawing closer to Hamas retuning to the fold is Muslim Brotherhood but the PA of late has been flirting with Iran so that will require watching. Hezballah and IRGC are Shiite and completely tied directly to Iran. The Kurds are technically a national independence movement though they also utilize terror style tactics, their main arguments are with Turkey, Syria, Iraq and now Iran and all that means. Without United States support, Turkish President Erdogan who is drawing closer and closer to the Iranian sphere of influence will work with Iran to annihilate the Kurdish People in an upcoming genocide. Iran and Iraq will conquer and decimate the Kurds in Iraq while Turkey finishes off the Kurds in Syria and takes that area for Turkey. Turkey also has its eye on northwestern Iraq down to Mosul and Syria including Aleppo. This will remain to be seen as Mosul is a target for Iraq to take for use by Iran and al-Assad is supposed to grab back Aleppo also so Iran can hold there. Iran is currently building a base which will include IRGC and Hezballah as well as Iranian military units south of Damascus within sight of the Golan Heights and working to make alliances to encircle Israel. It would not be a surprise to us if the IRGC and Hezballah made moves to bring the terror gangs and crime bosses in the Sinai Peninsula under Iranian control followed by Iran moving on the Sinai Peninsula which would allow Iran to have encircled her two greatest foes in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Frightening Challenges Facing All in the World

 

Syria is a problem from which there may be no good solution as there is much confusion and has as many facets as a rare gem, each reflecting hostilities on all the others. Every side of this entanglement fights for their own glorification seeking supremacy. Bashir al-Assad is attempting to prove that he is as worthy to carry the torch of leadership as was his father and to the grand level his deceased brother was expected to bestow on the nation as its President. He is attempting to overcome having been always the lesser son whose superior brother died tragically leaving him as the nation’s second choice. His attempts at overachievement could be diagnosed as some twisted form of Napoleonic Syndrome despite his height but due to his being measured by his father as always coming up short of what a leader should be. Add to the mix there is the Islamic State whose leadership fully believe that they are serving a greater purpose and are the proper leadership of all Islam and that they are defining the religion for every Muslim in the world. Their initial military successes have come to a crashing halt and are starting to find their opposition making valid and strong challenges and taking back territories which the Islamic State had initially conquered. Then there are al-Qaeda and other terror groups fighting representing the Sunni opposition to Alawite rule as it is a form of Shia Islam which they oppose and believe are apostates. There are also the Kurdish militias which are mostly concerned with defending their people and are having the greatest challenge coming from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey, who has claimed to be fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist groups but has used the majority of his troops to attack the Kurdish populations. Additionally there are the Iranian forces which mostly consist of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who Iran is backing further with Hezballah terror militias from Lebanon. From time to time these two groups attempt to draw Israel into the war by launching artillery or rockets into the Golan Heights. Israel will return fire when they have a solid set of coordinates on which to return fire and which also do not endanger civilians but, other than these, Israel refuses to be drawn into the fighting. Finally there is Russia who is most interested in retaining their two naval ports which are within the Alawite region of Syria which places them in the position of supporting Bashir al-Assad. The recent presumed bombing of targets with chemical weapons such as Sarin Gas which murdered civilians received a strong attack from the United States on the originating airfield with over fifty Tomahawk Cruise Missiles. This drew a strong rebuke by both al-Assad and Russian President Putin.

 

By comparison, the remainder of the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) is only slightly less violent and confused. Yemen is also in the midst of a civil war with the Houthis being backed by Iran while Saudi Arabia is supporting the government forces of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Egypt had supported the Saudi Arabian side providing mostly air support but lost faith in the situation and no longer supports anyone in the Yemen civil war. Libya is a complete disaster with tribal forces warring for preeminence while terrorist forces use some contested areas for training recruits readying them for fighting usually elsewhere. At one point al-Qaeda and Islamic State had cleared out territories they used for training but when they came under attack by tribal forces decided to simply leave as they had no reason to take part in the wars in Libya. The Sudan and South Sudan, which declared independence on July 9, 2011, have remained in a state of conflict with the Sudan sending militias forces raiding their southern neighbor as the Sudan has not fully recognized their independence and still believe that most of the people of South Sudan to be infidel or inferiors and see their military actions as a cleansing the territory of enemies of Islam. Somalia continues to be basically without true governance and has become a destabilizing force for its neighboring nations most notably Eretria as well as Kenya and Ethiopia. There are further threats centered on Nigeria with Boko Haram attacking Christian villages and other sites as well as Islamic villages where they kidnap “volunteers” to fight in their Islamic Army. Boko Haram had pledged their allegiance to Islamic State but whether that remains intact is questionable. All of these Islamic disruptions are largely traceable to what was often referred to as the Arab Spring which largely destabilized the entire area of MENA with the exception of places where there existed strong dictatorial governance such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States and Egypt which survived due to the military taking back the control they had lost to the Muslim Brotherhood after President Mubarak was forced from office under direct pressure from United States President Barack Hussein Obama. Iraq is still in a state of unrest with the Sunni and Shia segments of the population still facing difficulties resulting from a premature removal of United States forces by President Obama who was fulfilling a campaign promise sparking a low level of conflict. Meanwhile the Kurds are continuing to provide their own defense and act as if under semi-autonomous rule. Then there is a problem where the developed world has been inundated by refugees from these many conflicts plus increasing unrest and instability in Afghanistan leading to the new United States President, Donald Trump, to impose a temporary ban on immigration from seven nations where vetting to identify terrorist entities has proven difficult. This ban has fallen into court challenge and is still to be resolved but odds are the ban will stay in place for the ninety days while new vetting procedures are finalized.

 

Allied loosely with Syria and Iran is another problematic location, North Korea. The erratic leadership by Kim Jong Un who has ordered executions of senior officials including his uncle and also ordered the assassination of his half-brother all in the name of national security but actually to secure his position from any challenges. Kim Jong Un has also been petulant and often challenges the United States claiming that he is prepared to reply to any and every provocation by the erratic leadership of who he calls the nation’s greatest enemy. With the recent attack on the Syrian airfield both Kim Jong Un and Bashir al-Assad have denounced the United States as being imperialistic, colonial and using false excuses to try and extend the autocratic rule of the United States over more of the world through many varied and devious means. Both leaders have recently threatened to attack the United States or its forces and allies wherever and whenever possible and as necessitated by the warlike actions of the United States. The most violent of threats have come from North Korea and have been taken seriously as by many measures, Kim Jong Un is considered to be irrational and possibly not entirely rational and sane. The latest episode is currently playing out as the United States has diverted an aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and her strike group from harboring in Australia and is having them head towards the Korean Peninsula passing through the western Pacific. Kim Jong Un has raised the specter of a nuclear strike against the aggressor United States if a posture of war should continue and claims to be watching closely any aggressive behavior by the United States and its allies.

 

A World All Upside Down

 

Add to this the threats by Syria and the displeasure shown by Russian President Putin and there are quite a number of signals which could be interpreted seriously wrong and any one could have devastating consequences. Needless to say, such unrest around the world, nerves frayed and on edge and troops moving and shots being taken on two separate fronts, one in the western Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan, East China Sea, Yellow Sea and possibly the Bay of Korea while the other is in the Mediterranean Sea, the world is balanced on a razor’s edge unlike anything since the end of the Cold War. We are a far cry from Cuban Missile Crisis stage but the world need take a deep breath and calm itself before somebody somewhere misreads intents and starts something which could quickly fly out of control and lead to serious sets of actions, reactions and counter reactions ending who knows where. Add in the increased amount of terrorism and rising crime rate in much of Europe and that simply adds another tinderbox to the sparks and electrical arcing from friction and frayed wires on too many fronts. You know things are tense when Israel is seemingly a singular place where the level of unrest could be considered calm, at least this far into the year. Being nervous is seemingly in fashion for world leaders currently and that is never a good sign. We need to remember that it was the assassination of a little known Austrian Archduke named Fred, well, you’re right, Ferdinand, but I bet his friends called him not Fred but Archduke Fred, which started the War to End All Wars. That War later was renamed World War I as it led kind of directly to World War II and if there ever should be a World War III and the human race survives, it will be traced in some means to World War II and thus World War I. If we were honest, we would realize that one could trace all warfare back to Cain’s Murder of Abel if we really tried, so don’t be too complacent, the world leadership sure has not been of late. We have too many people thinking they should rule the world or they already rule the world and all of them are mistaken, or at least we had best hope they all realize such. They won’t and we will all be the worse off for it.

 

Beyond the Cusp