The case for war

Its finally time that I get into the war debate, four years after it began. I see that the rhetoric has shifted too and the momentum has clearly swung the anti-war way, atleast most of the noice is coming from the anti-war lobby. What an oppurtunate time for me to defend it

It’s often been said, and rightly so, that for evil to prosper good men do nothing. I have read and heard about the Sheehans, the Moores, the Clooneys and others of the ink who seem to think a little to highly of themselves then they ought too, while sneering down on plebeians like us for not seeing their point of view. Before I dwell deeply into it, I think a little background - from my viewpoint - is needed.

Iraq is this country formerly part of the region called Mesopotamia and it has tons of oil. The westerns, namely the British, the French, the Americans and the Russians, try to overrun it for the oil with a mixed success rate. And there is this guy called Saddam who rises up in Iraq and takes over the ruling party that had previously deposed the King and becomes “the President” with 100% of all eligible votes (It was just a ballot with his name on it). So like any dictator, he had absolute control of the country with no open opposition (Even closed opposition had to be outside the border) also modeling the South African style, he was part of the minority community. A very mitigating factor in his favor was that he had a neighbor that the west hated more than they hated him, and so they fought with his authoritarian rule against the totalitarian rule, helping him with biological and chemical weapons.

Once that war got boring, the west (America), lost focus which normally happens here with a change of COC*, and forgot about the tons of biological and chemical weapons! And then Hussein probably committed his biggest and only mistake, he got greedy and decided for whatever weird reason that he was Nebuchadnezzar and wanted to rule another country. Unfortunately for him, it was the end of the cold war which left Bush Sr. with a ton of old arsenal. So they bombed him back to his city and then chickened out before they could get the job done (just like some people are trying to now). The regime changed and America’s sometimes flawed foreign policy was in full affect, the new COC was more interested in a certain Ms. Lewsenski than in an old guy who fished using grenades. Then 9/11 happened and people wanted blood, Bush Jr. saw his opportunity to leave behind a legacy. Afghanistan was easy, but then it was not enough, the next logical choice was between doing something in Sudan, Iraq, Iran or North Korea. Sudan only had its deserts as a prize ditto for North Korea, albeit it had more forest cover. Iran was too powerful to take on while Iraq seemed much easier, with Sadam’s regime in taters due to a decade of sanctions. The administration knew they could use the chemical and biological weapons as an excuse, after all wasn’t it the US that provided it. It was a win-win situation, American’s largest and most powerful lobby (the gun lobby) could make a ton of money for replenishing the arsenal and the second most powerful lobby (Read the oil lobby) could finally get control of the second largest oil reserves in the world.

Then all hell broke loose, Sadam was and has been much smarter than they expected in hiding the weapons, or probably he had already used it all up, what with having to put down a plethora of revolts after the first gulf war. The administration had not been prepared for a long drawn out battle, also they had believed their own propaganda that technological superiority was enough on the battlefield. They also failed to understand that a dictator never has the whole country against him; there is always a section of people that have benefited from his patronage, who would feel the heat when he is gone. A prime example is the non-white sympathisers of the British Empire who are now citizens there. They went there as the empire was falling, rather than risk loosing their lives in their home country!

This should be enough of a digression.

So why support a war which has seen its opposition grow exponentially each day? ‘cause once the cacophonous rhetoric from either side is dissected, it will clearly emerge that the issue is more complex and greyer than both sides want us to believe. At the core of the issue as I see it is, not the WMDs but deciding when the issue is internal to a sovereignty or and when it becomes imperative for the world to step in. Don’t know if many of you remember the person called Ahmed Chalabi, he was part of an umbrella Iraqi opposition group that wanted to topple Saddam and took the normal Iraqis’ plight to various governments. Some of his information, which was heavily relied upon by the US government, on WMD have been shown to be false, for which he is in the dock right now. Looking at it from another perspective, the lies could be the sign of a desperate group of people tired of living under a draconian ruler. Indians should be well aware of such feelings, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose allied with the Japanese during to the Second World War to fight the British colonists in India.

The same people who are demanding US withdrawal are also asking for foreign intervention in Darfur! These also are part of the same group of individuals that want the international communities to do something about Iran and North Korea and Tibet and Taiwan and … the list goes on. Is there a double standard here or is there a lack of spine to face difficulties. Is running away at the first sign of trouble the mark of any self-respecting nation? Like dad used to compare certain cribbers to asses that would bite when you stand in front and kick you when stand behind.

Another rhetoric has been the human cost of it, the sacrifices of the soldiers and how they did not sign up for this. If the soldiers and the marines did not sign up for war what did they sign up for, guard duty in a safe place in the middle of America in a air conditioned room? I say this having seen and been with immediate family members in all wings of the Indian military including two active duty members in the navy currently. Some might say that I have not served in the army so I wouldn’t know, all I have to say is that if I joined the army I wouldn’t crib about it neither would I like anybody cribbing for me. To see civilians asking for withdrawal using the causalities as an excuse is not only a grave affront but is also short sighted. Those who have died or have been injured didn’t do what they did for nothing. The people who join the armed forces are not fools who do not know what is expected of them and if they are not ready to stand up then they have no reason to enlist. Like a ship is only useful if it is able to loose sight of land, the armed forces is not an ornament that a country wears but is there for a very specific purpose. The world’s supposedly greatest army does not earn its colours by staying home.

This also fits in well with larger problem of an opportunistic American foreign policy. If we just drop everything and walk out of Iraq right now, there would be anarchy there and it would have been better if we had not tried to help them out. The last sentence probably made a few of you snigger, but that is the truth according to NoViCe! The Iraqis were living under a dictator, and there is no going around it. There are probably a few other more notorious totalitarian regime in the world, but there is no established pecking order that the world can use to dismantle them. The muddle foreign policy was the one that prevented the job from being finished in ’92, which also probably caused the death of thousands of Iraqis who rose up in revolt against Saddam and then were left to die by a weakened American foreign policy that withdrew at the first sign of trouble.

I remember as a kid hearing about the letters that some churches in Indian received from certain extremists’ organizations like RSS and VHP - as the right-wing BJP was gathering a wider foothold in India – threatening them with expulsion from their Indian once they come to power. As absurd as it might sound right now, my immature mind started thinking of what happens when the state turns against its own people. I wondered if any other country would help us or if the rest of the world would even bother. Now that the world has done something about it in a country that needed it, with any number of hidden agendas included, we can only stay the course.

We cannot under any circumstances let the terrorists dictate terms to us, we would not be really free if we are not ready to make any sacrifices whatsoever. The news of the torture and killings that emanate from Iraq and Afghanistan only tend to fortify my opinion that we must stay the course. Would I like to stay in a country where I am told what to wear, eat, think and say or in a country that has high terrorist activity with my freedom intact? It’s like asking if I would like to die once with honour or die everyday of fear.

In every country the views that get the most exposure is not the majority opinion - which more often than not is middle of the road – but the opinion of fringe groups from both extremes that tend to muddy the whole affair.

Until we are able to see above ourselves, our family, our city, our state, our country we would not have really lived. This is the time for action and its either a free world or back to the stoneage!

*Commander-in-chief

Odyssey - Book 2 - Chapter viii - The RoadTrip

9 Days; 3600 Miles (5800 Km); 9 Cities; 17 states; 2.4 GB of pictures; 6 tapes worth of video footage; 65 hours of driving and a deep hole in the pocket, mix it all up and what do you get? The great American roadtrip. After all my travels so far, it was finally time to make a official full function roadtrip. And what better way to do it than to use your parents as guinea pigs for the same! At the end of the day they did enjoy it!

As any great roadtrip should start, ours started with a plan, that there would be no plans. We knew where we would begin and end, while the middle was kinda(a lot) fuzzy.


The practice runs for the long drive ahead was me commuting two hours to work(one way) each day of the previous week, ofcourse I had to take the last day off to preserve my sanity being destroyed by Chicago's traffic and prevent me from using my Marlin 30-30 in a way that would put me in the dock. Not only was it some of the craziest traffic I have seen on uncle Sam's road, but the way people drove below the speed limit to talk on the cellphone/put on makeup/eat during the only time the Interstate seemed empty irked me to no end! If there must be laws of the road it must be for such people ... also the smart Aleck that assume they were going really fast while the vehicles on the right side of the road were flying past them, need to either have their eye's checked or their brains exploded. Anyhoo now that I have sung my sob story, on to more better and beautify things

The trip itself started off good, Chicago's traffic delay was compensated by Indiana's open roads and 70mph speed limits, with our first stop in Dayton, Ohio at Ravi's place. Its always fun to watch the parents of bachelors trying to scheme together on changing the relationship status of theirs sons. Ravi came out the worse in this round with my parents getting enough info on him to add his profile to mine. A trip to the Air force museum would have been good but with a schedule like ours there was just not enough time.

Day two was a whole lot of traveling with a pit stop in Atlanta on the way to Tallahassee. Had a fellow traveler, Mike, join us on the leg from Atlanta to Tally. The pit stop was also a meet and greet with Katie and her family, who were unfortunately calling a hotel room their home 'cause of their neighbor's sewage leakage, something that I thought happened only in India. Just a side note, Atlanta is a place I would love to live in, it's got all the charms of a Big city with a markedly less amount of the problems. And ofcourse it south enough that I don't really have to worry about waking up every winter day to snowfall!

Tallahassee, which was next on the list was the only place that we stayed the whole day for, as always courtesy of Koshy and aunty. My parents got a top class guided tour of the town and university courtesy of none other than your's truly. Had a wonderful lunch with a few of my friends (If 40 is few) and their family. Learnt that mom's are the same all over the world, after hearing that Mrs. Owens had concerned with my mom on have being clean shaven with a short hair looks better on me. Parents! always old fashioned, they don't understand the effort it takes to look uncomly and unkept with holes in the clothes! While in Tally my dad decided that Florida beaches were in noway better than the ones in India, also he 'felt' it would sound cooler to tell people that he had been to Niagara rather than St. Augustine! I was all game as this saved me three hours of driving!

Day four found us slowing snaking through the picturesque Smoky mountains. Incidentally it is called so because of a natural blue colour haze that hangs over the mountain ranges. It's a place I would recommend for a weekend of camping, if you ask me nice, I might even tag along!

The following day was spent traveling to Washington DC - one of the two things that has impressed me the most in the US of A, the other being July 4th fireworks. On the other hand my parents seemed to be more impressed by mobile homes, they just couldn't comprehend the sight of moving homes. DC by night or day is a sight to look at. The monuments and the Smithsonian museums and the way the buildings are planned around each other thought I am yet to see the insides of any of these museums, a task for the next trip there. I recommend parking at the Union Station and taking one of the trolley tours around the city. Its a good way to see the city at your own pace. We did it in half a day, since we only walked around a few of the monuments. The last time I was there with a bunch of college kids, we walked to all the monuments, grossly underestimating the distance between them 'cause of their size. They are so huge that they look like they are just a block away. If get a chance to go there check out the golden Pegasus behind the Lincoln memorial on the way to Arlington cemetery.

The time saved by not going to the beach also helped us make it to NYC between DC and Boston. It suited well for me having seen NYC by with Ramya and Rajeev, this time was a good opportunity to see it by night, probably the only time you could drive in it without hitting somebody. But then for a person who learnt his driving lessons in the streets of chennai this only brought back fond memories of the lawless traffic back home. Its probably the Indian cabbies who transplanted the Indian style of driving to NYC. The highlight of the trip was driving through a city park and being stopped by a undercover cop for doing it. All I had to do was feign ignorance of any law that prevents us from driving inside a park and across a monument! Add a little bit of a hard to understand accent and you are home scot-free. This was also the day for me to try Korean food right next to the empire State Building. At that moment I felt like how countless Americans feel inside an Indian restaurant, the pictures on the menu helped, thought not enough to allow my parents to finish what it was they ordered. I'll try anything ones!

Day seven was probably the easiest of the whole trip with only a driving of 4 hours to Boston from NYC, thought it was the most expensive tollwise. Don't understand whatsup with the Northeasterners trying make us pay for all their roads, and to boot its not even cheap. The hotel that I stayed in Boston was probably the most snobbiest ... be warned of Club Quarters, unless ofcourse you are CEO of some MNC. In other things though Boston is pretty nice, it's old but nice.

Day eight brought us to Niagara falls, just after the lights had be been shut. Though we did get a good view early morning of day nine. If somebody tells you that the Canada side is better than the American side of Niagara ... don't believe them!! I have seen it from both sides and they are just different. You get to go to the goat island and the three sister's island on the American side while its all big towers and hotels on the Canadian side. Though you do get to see the rainbow clearly from the Canadian side.

There was no rest even after we came back since my parents had to leave the early next morning. But then again sleep is overrated.

All in all a definitely wonderful try without any untoward incidents whatsoever. It was so good that it has warranted a posting on my main blog. But then again with all the confusion of the past few weeks, I really haven't written much of a post.

Here are some pictures from the Trip ...

Chicago

Sep 20, 2006 - 27 Photos

RoadTrip

Sep 20, 2006 - 248 Photos

The riddle of the right and left hand!

I am still not off the topic of charity, 'cause I missed the most important aspect of giving ... forgetting. No not forgetting to give but to forget that you gave. Not only does this keep your ego in check but also helps in differentiating between a loan and a gift.

The reason I call it important is because I have struggled with this aspect of giving for as long as I know. There have been several occasions when I have boasted about my giving, there is a very fine line between boasting and edifying, a line I have crossed many times. I can blame it on my youth but not anymore.

A few of you would have figured out what the title refers to, for the rest here is the meaning: it refers to a sermon of Jesus which talks about how even your left have should have not know what your right had is giving. Though it sounds absurd the crus of the matter was that you are not to do good for the sake of showing off. Its principle that few even attempt, something that I have only seen in a very few people, like my dear friend Koshy living in Tally.

I have never come across a person more ready to help a stranger than him and more importantly not willing to remember his help to others. He could care less weather you are grateful or not, and even if you are of the not variety, he would still help with all his might. There have been times when I myself have called him a fool for the all out way he goes to help people but he is content to disregard it with a shrug of his shoulders. All he ever quotes is the Bible to prove that its better to give without expecting because his aim his eternal life and not worldly riches.

This is an aspect of giving that would not sound as important unless you believed in something more important than us. That there is a God and that he rewards us with eternal life. Some might even say that its not really giving unselfishly because, we are expecting something in return from the "higher power"! And they maybe true, because at the end of it we crave for happiness and contentment.

But I would rather crave for fulfillment rather than hold my giving and my helping as a stranglehold on the people benefited by it. This is something that not only helps in giving but even in our relationship ... so many relationships could be saved if we did all our kind acts without expecting anything in return. I used to always wonder how Koshy kept his faith in humanity after meeting so many 'unappreciative people and then I realized that he never expected anything for himself from them.

I have heard so many people tell me that they would only do more for others if there were more appreciative people around, which made me realise that they only wanted to give so others would speak well of them and not for the sake of giving. As I wrote in the previous post, people need kindness more than material help, so all your giving is going waste if giving itself is not your ultimate goal.

So here's hopin that more people would give and live above themselves!

Give without expecting, receive without forgetting

The essence of Charity!

Charity
- The theological virtue defined as love directed first toward God but also toward oneself and one's neighbors as objects of God's love.
- Benevolence or generosity toward others or toward humanity.

The charity I am talking about is the King James version (KJV), unrequited love towards all men, not the one that is commonplace now, giving to score brownie points. The human ingredient of love in giving is the most important part of it, more than all the other factors put together. Also in the KJV version of the bible, the word charity is used in place of love.

Give early, give Always

I once read somewhere that charity is not throwing a bone to the dog but sharing a bone with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog. I am not suggesting that we need to get into an unenviable position to help others but that our own circumstances must not be a hindrance to acts of charity.

The excuse given my most people I know for their lack of charity is the hardships that they themselves are facing. They want to give back once they have more money and worse some even suggest that all the richer and more powerful people should practice charity before they do it themselves. The problems with this logic are that there is now set limit for more money and its all was the poor who give and not the rich. From experience I have come to realise that there is no limit to wanting more money, I am just as broke now as when I was earning 1/5th of what I earn now (With a definite increase in material possessions).

The only way to break out of this circle of waiting-to-give-when-you-have -more-money is to give when you have no money. I have my parents to thank for, for instilling in me the sense of charity by first practicing it in all circumstances and by initiating me into it even with the first real money I ever made (Incidentally it was an inconsequential amount won in quiz competition). It was also their persuasion that made me realise that if I didn't give when I had the burden of the student and other loans, I wouldn't give when I had no such burdens. There have been times when even some of my close friends have questioned my wisdom in giving when I could have used it to close all my debts and there were even times that I myself had doubts about my decision. But now that I look back on that decision, I am convinced without a iota of doubt that it was one of the best decision that I have ever made.

Its pretty simple to see why I wouldn't have been able to give now if I didn't give then, my needs and comforts have dramatically grown with my pay scale, giving them a run for their money, and anybody who has had the 'privilege' of knowing me would know that I am not given to moderation when it comes to the good things in life ... oh what a waste it would have been!

Before you all start thinking that I am trying to blow my own horn, I am just trying to pass on some practical advice that I got, with a living proof in me. Of course it is not for everybody, but then again what is?

Give cheerfully

I had always wondered what Jesus had meant when he said God loves a cheerful giver, and then it struck me, that He was trying to make the point that people would remember the spirit and cheer in the gift long after the gift itself is forgotten. As I said earlier charity is more than monetary and material gifts, its the heart that makes the gift worth it. A kind word and a smile with your act of charity is of infinitely more value than just the act of charity alone. What the needy like all homo sapiens need more than money is a cheerful face that makes them feel wanted. It is the only need that cannot be bought, it has to be given.

The other more compelling reason for giving cheerfully is more self centered. For the only reward of KJV charity is happiness and contentment. As any financial advisor will tell you that the less you invest the less you get back, if your giving is cheerless, don't expect any returns of happiness and contentment. Far worse, charity without cheerfulness looses itself.

Be good stewards

Some people think that giving is just to cut a check out to every Tom dick and Harry, which more often than not is foolish. It is your hard-earned money, so treat it the same way you would treat your own business dealings. Personally I keep track of all beneficiaries of my charity and have a goal to reach certain groups of people through education, maybe I could expand on it but for now I know my target group and that's what each of us needs. Its always a good idea to have a field of focus, even Bill Gates is not capable enough of solving everyone's problem. Try not to go with the crowd all the time (sometimes its prudent to ignore this), and focus on small issues that really get a hold of you and consume you with passion. The passion of a motivated heart is insurmountable.

The reason for being good stewards is pretty obvious, there are some rotten apples who are out to make a quick buck and some issues which may not really be an issue like the society to promote vegetarianism (I could be wrong about that ha-ha). It also ensures that Charity is available where its due and not in the back pocket of a conman. Also you don't have to sow where somebody else already has already.

Be innovative

All the previous rules lean more towards material or monetary giving, so what if you can't afford to give any such thing. There is always something to give in everybody no matter how high or how low you might be in the natural food chain. Time is more important than money and more often than not it is much more in short supply. I would love to spend more time on my passions but unfortunately I hold a job that consumes most of my time. Its always best to give what you have than to say that you have nothing to offer the world. Charity is not for the Bill gates of the world but also for the Toms and Dicks and Harries.

If you have money, give money;if teaching skills, then teach;if organising skills, then organise;if caring, then care; as the parts of the body are different and equaly important so are all these different forms of charity.

At the end, What you spend is forgotten, what is save is for somebody else but what you give is what remains, there are people who keep it all for themselves and become poor and those who give away everything and yet get richer.

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity(love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity(love)" - 1 Corinthians 13:13

While I am on this subject, just an update on the kids that come for the evening school run by "Falcon Foundation" in Chennai... It's been great going so far and the number of kids has stayed constant so far, with a marked improvement in their academic abilities. Planning to get a few computers so they can start on it at a early stage. Also looking for other locations to start up a similar evening school and a adult education program. Soon you should be able to get more updates on it's own website.... and no this is not a plea for money :). If you have any brighter plans for the slum kids talk to me ;).