Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago School economists and fellow travelers.
James R. Rummel The teaser to the news article reads “NORTH KOREANS FACE WINTER WITHOUT ADEQUATE FOOD”.
Can someone please tell me how this is different from the last 20 years?
There are times when the only reasonable response to a tragic situation is by laughing. It is for that reason I would like to share with you the following news item.
According to a Reuters news article, Canada is petitioning NATO to send more military assets to Afghanistan.
Every government in the world has their own concerns and agenda, although the interests of two countries might well align in some cases.
NATO is subject to restrictions that member nations have on how many troops they will donate, and the governments who contribute the troops often place restrictions on how they will be used.
That is why I find it bizarre to see any country place any sort of trust in an international coalition when it comes to defense issues. All of the elements necessary for decisive military action (flexibility, a clear goal, decisiveness) are lost.
If Canada is frustrated, why don’t they just go ahead and take care of the problem themselves?
Oh, yeah. I forgot.
It is no secret that I support securing our southern border due to security concerns. The situation as it exists now, where there are thousands of places where anyone can cross with law enforcement being none the wiser, makes us far too vulnerable.
Critics of my point of view usually point out that illegal immigrants from Mexico are hardly Islamic terrorists bent on jihad, and that my concerns are alarmist and unrealistic. They point out that fanatics bent on forging a global Caliphate will find little support in Mexico, a country with a long tradition of Catholic domination.
For some reason, I don’t find their arguments to be very reassuring.
The news article linked to above hardly says that there are terror cells waiting to swim across the Rio Grande with their suicide belts primed and ready to go. But Hezbollah supporters in Catholic dominated Mexico?
We are engaged in a global struggle between mutually opposing ideologies. Our opponents are resourceful, dispersed, secretive and determined. It is worth our while to try and fix our vulnerabilities before they are exploited by the enemy, even if our efforts prove to be bothersome to those illegal immigrants who have no intention of committing terrorist acts.
Imagine, if you will, that there is a paranoid recluse living on your block. Sullen and unpleasant, he spends most of his time inside his house and actively avoids anything approaching civilized discourse with his neighbors.
Then, one bright and sunny day, he murders someone innocently strolling down the sidewalk. He barricades himself inside of his home before the police can arrive.
There would be an attempt at negotiation, of course. It is well worth the effort if you can get the perp to give up without having to risk more lives. But if that doesn’t happen, if he decides to commit suicide-by-police, eventually the forced entry team is going to have to suit up and do what has to be done to protect everyone who lives in that neighborhood.
But, as the body armor is being strapped on and the equipment is being checked, what would happen if the SWAT guys were told that they had to back off just as soon as one of their members was killed? An innocent person died, so they have to give up and leave when another life is lost. That way there is some sort of cosmic balance, you see?
They would look at you like you were some kind of freakin’ idiot because, let us face it, you would be a freakin’ idiot to suggest such a thing.
There was a car in the handicapped space in front of my bank a few weeks ago. It was a real beater, a huge gas-guzzling muscle car from the 1960’s which had seen better days. The color was primer grey, the tires were bald, and a sleeping bag was open in the back seat. It was a typical vision of a makeshift home for a homeless person. The one thing that made it stand out was the license plate, which proudly proclaimed “WWII VETERAN”.
The only person inside the bank who was over 50 was a wizened black man who needed a cane to move. I asked him if that was his car I had passed on my way in. When he said that it was I introduced myself and, as is my custom, thanked him for his service.
This surprised him. He said that people didn’t make mention of those old days much anymore, and he wanted to know why I had taken the trouble to seek him out. I blurted out the first thing that popped into my mind.
“You were part of the team which saved the world!” I said.