Unrest in the Middle East: Where Are We Headed?

The political landscape is teetering on the edge

WikiImages for Pixabay

Normally, I’d post this closer to my birthday, but in light of what’s happening in today’s political news, it seems there’s no time like the present. Discourse and polite conversation are always welcome. Trolls need not apply. I will block you with a right hook and uppercut if you try.

I’ll be back to my dark-humored life stories next week.

---

Less than forty-eight hours after I was born, President Eisenhower gave a television address informing the nation that a truce had been declared with North Korea. On July 27, 1953, the war that had lasted three years and thirty-two days was now officially over. The loss of life tallied in the thousands, with 37,000 deaths and 92,000 wounded.

And yet, unlike the end of WWII, the news was not met with any ticker-tape parades. Ending in a stalemate, where the disputed boundaries remained unchanged, and overshadowed by the ending of a world war and a future war in Vietnam, the Korean war is referred to in history books as “the forgotten war.”

Whether it was the failure to push back on North Korea’s invasion during the Korean War, support for the Vietnam War was met with resistance, giving rise to its famous protests.

Growing up in Berkeley, California during the sixties, I experienced firsthand the prevailing belief that American involvement in Vietnam was wrong. Activists from nuns and priests to college students marched in numbers and resisted arrest during sit-ins over the war’s continued escalation. Peace not war, love not hate were the anti-war cries of thousands of protestors.

And when the draft lottery was held in 1969, I watched the terror of friends whose older brothers were suddenly writing from boot-camp before heading off to places with strange sounding names like Phnom Penh, Da Nang, and Saigon to fight in jungles against an unknown and unseen enemy.

Some came back; others didn’t. Either way, no one wanted to remember the living or the dead. Like Korea, it was a war that couldn’t be won. When the last of the troops pulled out, the nation had suffered 58,279 deaths and over 300,000 wounded.

But for the surviving soldiers, the nightmare of fighting “in country” and making it out alive was met with indifference, scorn, and hostility. The idea of giving your life for your country, a sentiment embraced by veterans of WWII and Korea and admired by the rest of the nation, was soundly rejected. Shunned by the very nation that sent them to fight, they returned home burdened by mental health, addiction, and for many the inability and in some instances, resistance to assimilate, resulting in increasing numbers of suicides.

Since that troubled time, the US has sent troops to fight in other wars in other countries—the first and second Gulf Wars, and Afghanistan, and now with Trump bombing Iran, possibly another war in the Middle East. While warfare tactics have become increasingly more sophisticated, the fact remains that with every war, loss of life is a constant.

The soldiers who do survive return home to face the difficulty of assimilating back into civilian life. The latest suicide rates from the 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report which covers the years 2021-22, shows that 17.5 veterans end their lives each day.

With the bombing of Iran’s facilities, the current administration has stirred up a hornet’s nest. And anyone who’s ever been stung knows the attacks materialize out of nowhere. Worse yet, reports are now appearing to indicate that the “total obliteration,” is anything but, delaying, at best, a few months before Iran’s facilities are up and running again.

So what does this action by our current Commander in Chief portend? I believe he and the current US Secretary of Defense have no understanding of other countries’ cultures and ideologies.

Something WILL happen. When, I don’t know, but it WILL happen, and I can only hope this administration is prepared. Because if not, you might see your Gen Z’er off to fight in a war NO ONE wants. Don’t be surprised if this administration resurrects the draft. And unlike heading off to Canada as many young men did during the Vietnam years, the current president royally fucked any chance of finding safe haven north of the border. Canada doesn’t want us, and rightfully so.

Looking on the optimistic side, however, is the surge in social posts by active and retired military who vehemently oppose and condemn the US intervention in the Middle East. It’s a tragedy that it took this act for them to finally see the compulsive and reckless behavior of the man they voted into office.

Will this become another Korea or Vietnam, where lives are lost and nothing is gained? All because of one man, who needs to fill an ego that, unfortunately for the rest of America, resides in a bottomless pit.

He is a man whose current goal is to grab a prize he does not, nor ever will, deserve. Awarded by The Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals who have “conferred the greatest benefit to humankind” this gold medal will NEVER be bestowed upon what will be written in future history books as the most hated man in the entire history of the world.

While his supporters try in vain to nominate their leader, they will find they are fighting an uphill battle. Although not a formal requirement, individuals nominated are often recognized as possessing certain qualities—compassion, strong moral character, vision and humility, and honesty and respect. Our current president embodies none of these.

His “12-Day War,” is shaky at best. Photos of the targets refute his smug insistence of “TOTAL OBLITERATION.”

So, unlike his supporters who voice empty and meaningless rhetoric with their “thoughts and prayers” whenever tragedy strikes, let’s try to find a way toward diplomacy. We don’t need another Korea or Vietnam or Afghanistan.

I want a different ending for next year’s birthday. An ending where we return to a country that is admired and respected. It’s up to us to initiate change. Trump sure as shootin’ won’t. He’s too fixated on grasping that glittering gold medal in his pint-sized fists.