Wars and Rumors of Wars

Mexican President Santa Anna was captured by the Texans in the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Shortly thereafter, he was strongly encouraged to sign the two Treaties of Velasco. One treaty promised that all Mexican troops would be withdrawn from Texas, which they were. The other treaty promised that Santa Anna would try to persuade his government to recognize Texan independence when he got back home. He did try, but his government refused to ratify the treaties because Santa Anna was a prisoner when he signed them. Also, they were pissed at him for botching the Texas campaign and getting himself captured in the first place. The Mexican American War started when the U.S. admitted Texas as a state, which prompted Mexico to declare war on the United States. After they lost the war, Mexico ceded a bunch of land, including Texas, to the U.S., but I don't think they ever formally recognized Texan independence. The Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War and recognizing American independence, was signed on September 3, 1783, but it took a few months for both governments to ratify it. (I actually looked this up before mouthing off about it. Aren't you proud of me?)

I keep hearing that oil is the only reason our government is involved in the Middle East is, but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Most of U.S. oil imports come from Canada and Mexico, and we don't have any troops stationed in either country. In addition, about half the oil produced in the U.S. ends up getting exported, mostly to Japan. I think we send some crude oil to be refined in Mexico, and then re-import the finished product, because we don't have enough refining capacity in this country. (I didn't look this part up tonight, but I have previously read it all somewhere, so I'm not making it up.)

I think the reason the Islamic nations got mad at us in the first place was that we were giving foreign aid to Israel. I understand we are also giving foreign aid to the Palestinians, but nobody seems to be mad at us for that.

The "War" on Terror is hard to define because it is not against any sovereign nation. Funny, they called the Korean War a "police action" when it was really a war. If any war should be called a police action, it should be this War on Terror because it is being fought against multiple criminal gangs that may or may not be affiliated with each other. Be that as it may, I assume that the goal in this "war" is to cause the terrorists to cease and desist. Come to think of it, I don't believe I've ever heard any of our politicians say that in so many words, so maybe you're right to question their goals, if they even have any. I could assert that the goal of our government, in most of the wars fought in our lifetimes, seems to have been to prolong the conflict as long a possible and then lose, but that would be just paranoid.

All Muslims are not terrorists, and all terrorists are not Muslims, but some Muslims are terrorists, and most terrorists these days seem to be Muslims. I don't see a problem with calling people who are both Muslims and terrorists "Islamic terrorists", just so we recognize that they are two different things. I don't like to use that "jihad" word because it is an Islamic word, and I don't want anybody to think for a minute that those bastards are assimilating me.

This was in our local newspaper yesterday and I thought it was pretty insightful and certainly relevant to our discussion. I was going to just summarize it for you but I tracked it down on the internet so you can read the whole thing for yourself. Aren't you proud of me?

http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/isis-isnt-an-existential-threat-to-us/Content?oid=4175974

I think that Lyons is right, there is no magic bullet that's going to solve this problem anytime soon, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying. How about this? It's not a magic bullet either, just another arrow in the quiver that might be worth considering. Since the Russians have expressed an interest in Syria, let's just give it to them, on the condition that they leave the Ukraine alone.