How far are we from Armageddon?

[TruthPrevails]

After hearing about Bush’s complete surrender to Sharon’s right wing agenda and the news about Rantissi’s assassination, I think it is time to lay all cards on the table and take a comprehensive look into the whole situation.

For years the US government has tried to maintain at least a semblance of balance in our foreign policy. Bush dissolved all doubts in the minds of the Israeli hawks and gave them a green signal. Result – today’s brazen murder with open hints at more to come.

Have we just ratcheted up the slippery slope leading us all to a fiery ending?

Consider the present scenario:

The US keeps on bombing one city after another in Iraq killing ordinary citizens, hoping that a bigger bomb is all that would take to cower down the entire population. Just one more bomb, just a few more deaths – and victory will be ours. Sadly, as history repeats itself, we end up losing more soldiers, thousands of innocent civilians are slaughtered, and the enemy grows stronger in numbers and unified in their quest for freedom.

In the mean time, Sharon continues with his target killings, each one more bolder with every Palestinian suicide attack.

Bush’s poll numbers keep dropping and he attacks Syria saying that is where Saddam has transferred his biological weapons. This is the last ditch effort to save his presidency.

The more Sharon gets brutal in oppressing the Palestinians, the more he loses support of the International community. The moderates within his own country begin to distance themselves. In a last ditch effort to gain back his strength, he orders a surprise attack on Iran’s nuclear reactor that Russia is helping to build.

Back in the US, the country is bitterly divided on the war. The religious right is firmly behind Israel, while the rest are questioning the reasons for our involvement in this Mid East conflict.

Iran, Iraq, and Syria are now hopping mad. They have joined forces with the Palestinians who are about to tear down the wall. Israel panics, and fires a couple of nuclear missiles towards Mecca and Medina. Hell breaks loose, and Russia launches a single nuclear warhead from one of her nuclear subs and renders the land of Israel a radioactive wasteland for years to come.

The evangelical Christians, having finally got their Armageddon, suddenly develop a conscience. They have no guts to go after the Russians. They call a ceasefire, and the world sighs in relief. Peace comes at last.

Now consider an alternate scenario planned by the thinking population:

We take away our troops for Iraq and hand it over the UN. We make Israel our number one priority and act an honest broker to forge a peace treaty that is fair to both sides. We are the last superpower on the planet that has the leverage to do so to force both sides to come to the negotiating table.

Consider the facts. The US has given over $93 billion in aid to Israel since its creation in 1948. We have been duped into a needless war that has cost us a dear $200 billion. This is $56,346 for Jewish man, woman and child living in Israel. With this kind of capital, we could have simply relocated these 5.2 million unfortunate souls to the US.

We could make them our proud citizens and let them set trail blazing examples in medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, science, joining their family of 5.8 million who already enrich our culture. This gives us a highly talented pool of productive citizens who contribute to our economy and tax base.

The Middle East problem is solved without the loss of any more lives. We take away our puppet dictators from their land, and let them self govern. By eliminating the cause for hate, we win the war on terror.

We kick start our top research institutions to find and develop alternate energy sources.

We dismantle and bring back our US troops from our foreign bases. We cut back on the extraordinary expenditure of our military institution and channel that money to more useful programs like health care and education. We focus and support on our citizens.

We then provide funding for education to the Arab nations. Enlightenment comes through education. In a few generations, education brings democracy from the grassroots.

Peace prevails.

The end result of both scenarios are the same. In the first case peace does come, except that we lose thousands of lives and wipe away a race, while in the alternate scenario, lives are saved, but it dashes the hope for a separate state.

If you were to look beyond race/religion and view the problem with an open mind, which path would you prefer?

Can Armageddon be avoided?