What have we learned?
We have learned that we can be very bitter and have revenge.
We have learned that we still believe we're the center of the universe and that we're better than anyone.
We have learned that it's better to hate than to educate.
We have learned that when it comes to revenge, we have no qualms destroying other countries in retaliation.
Harsh?
Absolutely.
The problem is - we haven't learned one thing from our history.
What we should have learned.
We have a responsibility to other cultures and countries across the marble we all live on.
We should respect one another and thoroughly learn those who disagree with us so that we can better understand their complaints against us.
We have the ability to destroy thousands of lives ... but we don't need to.
We have the ability to look in the mirror.
We have the ability to learn from our mistakes.
We have the ability to learn more about those that have grievances against us.
Contrary to what you may believe, I still deeply feel the loss our nation went through on 9/11. It was senseless. It was tragic. It made me angry. It made me question a lot about myself. It made me reconsider how I view our foreign policy and the aftermath that would soon follow in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For when it was all said and done, our vengeance was taken out on a middle eastern country whose leader we had long since despised. It was a convenient target even though the mission was horribly contrived and concocted. We got our "blood thirst" temporarily satiated in the countless slaughter of Iraq's own population. When you consider the loss of their lives - significantly pales in comparison to the loss of our nation's families on 9/11 ... if you can wrap your mind around that notion, then you're beginning to realize that we are equally burdened by our revenge spurt that happened over the last decade.
I was not in favor of our actions in Iraq, but I was in favor of going after the guy that did it - who was in Afghanistan then moved to Pakistan. I was in favor of putting an end to the regime in Libya and I am not a fan of the despot in Syria. Civil wars are always going to be the bane of the world around us. I'm not one of these folks that believes we need to be interfering in the plight of every conflict that happens. It's deeply tragic what's happening when a nation gases and neutralizes their citizens by way of chemical warfare. It's abominable. It's atrocious.
Just because we can do something about it - doesn't mean we always should. I'm not sure where the line is. As much as I'd want to put a stop to all the senseless crap in the world - I know we simply can't. It's impossible.
What we can do is start improving the way we view the world around us. We can educate ourselves about other cultures, we can teach compassion and sympathy. We can set a new example of how citizens are supposed to behave - like adults - rather than petulant children who simply aren't getting their way. Pitching a fit isn't going to resolve anything in the world.
We can stop the war drum beating, the inflaming "journalism" and eliminate the dazzling political punditry that seeks to divide us from the world than unite us. The United Nations was founded on the principle that we can mutually meet to resolve our differences ... but as long as there are those out there that continually berate the actions of the U.N. without fully understanding the scope and cause of the organization - then the world will continue to be in peril and conflict.
We need clarity when it comes to our resolve ... but we need to be open, understanding and educated participants of the world to make that happen.
