I tell it as I see it

It is a timeless saying that the biggest fool is a person(s) who keeps making the same mistake again and again without realizing the error of his actions and makes no effort whatsoever to correct it. This best describes the actions of the Bush administration which despite being comprised of learned and educated, is forgetting such a fundamental principle which is taught in Kindergarten, at a time when it is the most important for it to reflect on its past fiascos.

The mismanagement of the middle-east power politics by the United States and its allies has resulted in a crisis that has already led to civilian and military deaths and destruction of property. Arrogantly, the same administration is now lobbying for a war with Iran even though support for sending additional troops to Iraq is fading away.

The United States attacked Afghanistan starting October 1 2001, post the 9/11 tragedy. Its aim was to wage a war on terror, oust the Taliban and find al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The war began less than a month after the WTC tragedy which goes about to show the military planning that went into the war during the buildup stage. Despite the retreat of the Taliban and the establishment of an Islamic, democratic, pro American government, the region is far from peaceful. Seven years later Afghanistan is plagued by suicide attacks, clashes between US troops, Afghanistan army and the Taliban and civilian deaths.There also seems to be no sign of Osama Bin Laden or any information regarding his fate. Also according to recent reports, the Taliban is planning resurgence with 10000 strong combat ready forces. It reports to have 2000 suicide bombers ready with another 3000 in training camps.

Not much different is the story of Iraq and the Gulf war II. What began as a search for WMD's and providing regional Energy security has now escalated into an imminent civil war. In the words of Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, at the moment there are 5 wars taking place in Iraq. "...Sunni's against Shiites, Sunni's and Shiites against the US occupiers, al-qaida against the US, Shiite theocratic thugs against ordinary Shiites and the Arab autocrats against any kind of democratic Shiite led Iraq...". The civilian population is caught in the midst. In the united press international reported survey, 90% of Iraqi's feel the situation of the country was better before the US-Led invasion than it is today felt that they are in a worst state now than they were in the pre American Invasion. Also nearly half favored an immediate withdrawal where as 20% favored phased withdrawal. Despite this being the Iraqi sentiment, Bush and Co. are lobbying in the congress for additional troops for Iraq, contrary to what the Iraqi's want.

There is another recent development on the North Korean front in which negotiations, not war, have succeeded in averting a nuclear face off between the US, Japan & North Korea. Pyongyang has promised to shut down the Yongbyon reactor within 60 days in exchange for 50,000 tons of fuel oil. Though it has taken over 3 years to reach an agreement, this initial breakthrough could lead to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the reduction of tensions in northeast Asia. Nevertheless, in view of North Korea's track record, further talks would be handled carefully by the six nations.

The three examples above demonstrate that war does not provide energy security. It only accomplishes in destabilizing a region, upsetting the political balance and derailing the process of societal growth and human development. Regional stability is fundamental to energy security. This is because investment is directly related to risk and a region which is politically unstable will be a risky investment for any oil companies. Persistent open minded negotiations achieve what war fails to achieve. Such negotiations and regional cooperation is the key to providing a continuous and secure energy supply.

But the White House does not want to learn from its mistakes. It wants to take its arsenal of black hawks and F 19's to Iran. It wants to destabilize the region further, it wants another Afghanistan and Iraq on its hands. It is indeed unfortunate that such fools exist, especially when they are gambling with the lives of people, their livelihood and their economies. It is time for Bush to grow up, to give up his bully ways before he has the blood of another hundred thousand on his hands. But the way things have gone in the past, this seems to be nothing more than wishful thinking.