Thinking about the world and stuff
Being sidelined for the evening allows a lot of time for thinking. Rather than use this time for constructive introspection, I thought since I already felt sick I may as well try to get a larger perspective on everything that's going on in the world right now. To look beyond all the individual conflicts, and get a sense of how they all connect and what it means to the world. So I whipped out the atlas and opened it to the Middle East, and okay, I'll run it down for you.
Israel is at war with an element of Lebanon, the hardline conservatives that support Hezbollah. (Unfortunately they've killed so many civilians that now pretty much everybody supports Hezbollah.) Hezbollah is a Shi'ite political organisation that also exists in Iran. Syria, though mostly Sunni, also supports Hezbollah. Iran is Shi'ite, supports Hezbollah, and has a president who wants Israel "wiped off the map". Iran's prez is a religious conservative wingnut who has an apocalyptic world view similar to the evangelical christians of the west (the '7th Imam' is to Islam what the rapture is to christianity). Ironically, this extreme religious world view is shared by the president of the US. The US is backing Israel in its local war against Hezbollah by supplying weapons. The US is also mired in a civil war in Iraq. Iraq is basically being run by the majority Shi'ites who are friendly with Iran. Iran will at some point probably take over Iraq. Iran is quietly supported by Russia.
At this point the projectile vomiting kicked in. The End.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
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