Jigsaw Puzzle

Faisal Mosque in Pakistan -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
I don't know where exactly to begin with today's blog. In "Don't Bomb, Bomb Iran" I talked about the United States' most recent debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq. In that blog, I suggested that maybe we should put out one fire before we ignite another one. Now, as we focus on the Middle East, it seems that troubles are multiplying. Here is a brief run-down:

Iran -- Iran's president has spoken in a bellicose manner about the US, has mentioned Islamic "end times" and touts Iran's nuclear progress loudly and obnoxiously.

Pakistan -- Pakistan's President Musharraf has suspended the constitution and civil liberties in reaction to protests and civil unrest. Part of this unrest was fomented by the return of ex-Prime Minister Bhutto who according to some is the presumed successor to Musharraf. The Taliban is profiting from this standoff since Musharraf and Bhutto have represented more tolerance and secularism in previous years. Now they are now fighting one another.

Turkey -- Turkey is literally up in arms over the transgressions of Kurdish rebels at its southern border. The US is working intensely with the Iraqi government in Baghdad to curtail the rebels’ activities. Here, we have the odd situation of two American allies taking warlike stances against each other.

In the above-described situations, Pakistan and Turkey have been staunch allies to the US. Losing their good graces would be a major loss for us in that part of the world. It is hard to say how much the Iraq war inflamed these other regions but it almost certainly didn't help things. Taliban groups have now been emboldened by unanswered challenges to established authority since the Iraq war put so many things in motion.

This week's Newsweek suggests that violence has abated in Iraq -- not because ethnic consensus has been reached. Instead, the lull is due to a geographic patchwork quilt of ethnic divisions where the boundaries are (at least momentarily) being respected. There is still no secularism, and no love lost between Sunni and Shias. The US military has actually been handing out arms and supplies to both groups. So, what does the future hold for this Balkanized tinderbox we've helped create? No telling.

The whole Middle East is an argument for secularism and church-state separation. Look at what happens when one variant of religion lowers the boom on every other variant. Look at what happens when crazies are swept into power and have access to nuclear weapons. If the United States can recast itself as a Peace-maker rather than a war-monger, its tenure in the Middle East should be long. That part of the world will need baby-sitting for decades to come.

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