War Games

I hesitate to equate anything about war with games but in fact that is what we call our battle "practice" sessions. Iraq, however, is a mess and the fact that extremism is seeping out should not be ignored.

While this war of ours is anything but a game, an article in this morning's Wall Street Journal set me to thinking about games as analogies. The first that comes to mind is "Dominos". The theory being, when we instilled "democracy" in Iraq all the surrounding States would follow suit. They're following suit all right. Name the tiles Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Lebanon and Afghanistan and down they go. Each government in its own right is facing the prospect of degeneration. It all started with Afghanistan and the Taliban. That situation has gone full circle with the Taliban regaining power and the Opium poppy crop back up to near pre war levels, supplying 92% of the world's supply. That's the heroin ingredient, folks. Not to mention another "war" - on drugs.

Hamas and Israel, Hezbollah and Lebanon and Israel. The Sunnis versus the Shiites. The Kurds quietly doing their thing against Turkey, Iran and Syria. The entire middle east is in chaos because we wanted to impose our style of Democracy in Iraq. Al Qaida? They're in the mix to be sure. "Hide and go seek" comes to mind. Reminds me, too, of "Red Rover" what with opposing sides struggling to penetrate one another and luring the opposition.

We must not overlook "Follow the leader". Here we are in the U.S. worried about border security and building fences along the Mexican border. This is so they can't get in and we won't have to fight them here, remember? Well, in keeping with the rules of the game Jordan is bolstering its massive border patrols with motion detectors and cameras, Saudi plans to build an electrified fence along its border with Iraq and Iran is launching artillery attacks against anti-Iran Kurdish militias.

As much as I would like to believe there is enough war going on "over there" that we're relatively safe here, I fear that is not the case. It is not just here, however. The entire world is at risk. The Little Dutch Boy knew a finger in the dyke could hold back the flow only so long. Will the floodgates hold?