The Confusing Days to Come

There are three different Op-Eds in today’s New York Times that are so appropriate to the quagmire we found ourselves within today (i.e. the day Obama became a Republican) that I believe it is important for all American veterans to read them. 

Slowly. Digest these thoughts.  Mull them over in your head for a couple of days. These viewpoints will explain an awful lot to you in the confusing days to come.

First up is Thomas Friedman in an article entitled Our Three Bombs which explains that our children and grand children are now awaiting the blast from the ticking time bombs of nuclear arms, climate change and economic meltdown. All three or any one of the three is a drastic national security concern for the next one hundred years. The American phrase "We are screwed!" really does not capture the ethos here. What kind of a world are we leaving behind for our children, grandchildren and their children? 

Next up is and Op-Ed article by four senior staff writers on the Times involving what they term the "axis of anxiety" concerning a line of danger that runs geographically from Iraq to Iran to Afghanistan to Pakistan.  The article is here. It is a very quick and dispassionate look at the numbers involved. 

The last Op-Ed article is here and it just might explain a little bit about why we are so reluctant to leave Afghanistan.  I never knew this.  I know it now and so will you.  Here is an excerpt from this piece entitled Beijing’s Afghan Gamble:

"In Afghanistan’s Logar Province, just south of Kabul, the geopolitical future of Asia is becoming apparent: American troops are providing security for a Chinese state-owned company to exploit the Aynak copper reserves, which are worth tens of billions of dollars. While some of America’s NATO allies want to do as little as possible in the effort to stabilize Afghanistan, China has its eyes on some of world’s last untapped deposits of copper, iron, gold, uranium and precious gems, and is willing to take big risks in one of the most violent countries to secure them."

I should have known.  I did not know.  Well what do you know!

And in a non-related article about political corruption in New York State involving a political machine stalwart, Raymond B. Harding, there is one more example of the constant American political corruption involving influence buying and selling that I want you to read.  He led the incredibly small Liberal Party in New York State but his influence was unbelievable.  He was essentially an influence peddler.

The article is here and it is entitled Ex-Political Boss Pleads Guilty in Pension Case .

Why did I include this among a series of articles that seem to have nothing to do with national defense? 

Because corrupt government based on uncontrolled greed by individuals who are entrusted with the public interests are a grave national security concern.  Here is an excerpt from the article:

"ALBANY — Raymond B. Harding, one of the last of New York’s political bosses, admitted on Tuesday that he had accepted more than $800,000 in exchange for doing favors for Alan G. Hevesi, the former state comptroller; among the favors was a scheme to secure an Assembly seat for Mr. Hevesi’s son.

The guilty plea by Mr. Harding, who was once a leader of the small but influential Liberal Party in New York, was one of the more dramatic developments in a corruption investigation by the state attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, who is scrutinizing fees paid to associates of Mr. Hevesi by investment firms seeking business with the state’s pension fund."

We now routinely in this country see State level government seats up for purchase.  The only thing that stopped this was they all got caught.  How many have not been caught around the nation?

This is what I spent almost twenty five years of my life in uniform defending?

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)