By: Jim Taylor

Through apathy or indifference, we are getting sucked into World War III. It may already have started, without anybody noticing.
          The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia all have troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ethiopia, backed by the U.S., invaded Somalia. U.S. warplanes have participated directly in air strikes.
          More and more Washington commentators report that the White House is deliberately looking for an excuse to attack Iran, and/or Syria.
          And on the other side of Asia, it's making threatening noises about North Korea.
          Closer to home, there's evidence that the U.S. is attempting to destabilize the current governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and perhaps Brazil -- possibly precipitating civil wars throughout Latin America.
Palestine and Israel, Kashmir, Chechnya, the Congo already have intermittent wars going on.

GLOBAL CONFLICTS
          Those areas involve far more of our globe than World War I ever did.
          World War I was largely limited to continental Europe. Until Japan dragged the entire Pacific into the theatre, World War II mostly confined to the Mediterranean basin, northern Europe and western Russian. South America never got embroiled in either World War.
America has insisted it has a right to defend itself against aggression. But none of these nations has posed any direct threat to the United States.
          The Taliban were too busy repressing their own citizens to attempt taking over the U.S. Granted, Osama bin Laden and his Merry Men operated out of Afghanistan. But during Prohibition days, the Mafia operated out of Chicago. Nobody held Chicago accountable for their crimes.
          The claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction has been decisively debunked. Before the invasion, U.N. inspectors found nothing. In the four years since then, not even an army of occupation has managed to find any such weapons.
          If North Korea really has a nuclear warhead, it's the most feeble one yet exploded. Its missiles have trouble hitting the Sea of Japan, let alone targets in the continental United States.
          Neither Iran nor Syria have capabilities -- yet -- for a frontal attack on America.

DOING THE DIRTY WORK
          So exactly what is the U.S. defending?
          All of the countries considered threats belong to one of two groups. They are either Islamic or leftist.
          The only thing they have in common is that they refuse to treat the American Way of Life as the only norm. Religiously or economically, they prefer other options.
          That makes them dangerous?
          Islam is a threat only to those American churches who insist that they have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. To acknowledge the validity of any other religious perspective means admitting that their own claim has holes in it.
          Equally, leftist regimes are no threat to the American people. Fidel Castro is not going to invade Houston or Dallas. Bolivia's Morales is hardly likely to riddle the Pentagon with spies.
          They are a threat only to American corporations, who might -- just might -- see some of their assets nationalized. If more profits stayed within the country whose natural resources produce those profits, nationalization would have far less appeal.
          Why should the American government wage holy war on behalf of its more fanatical churches? Maybe those churches should raise from their own members the trillion dollars needed to sustain American armies.
          Why should American agencies do the dirty work so that a few wealthy corporations can get wealthier?
          Most importantly, why should America drag the rest of the world into its private quarrels?

REPEATING MISTAKES
          The biggest danger to the world right now is that the current occupants of the White House seem unable to learn from experience.
          NATO forces swept through Afghanistan, apparently conquering a feeble opposition. But the opposition simply submerged in the local populace, and continued a war of insurgency.
          Coalition Forces roared through Iraq the same way. Armed opposition dissolved into the desert. A cocky George W. Bush stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declared victory.
          But the war simply moved into Iraq's streets and alleys.
          The same thing happened again in Somalia. Ethiopian troops encountered minimal resistance taking the capital of Mogadishu. They cornered the remaining Islamic Courts militia at Somalia's border with Kenya, where U.S. warplanes launched air strikes with supposedly surgical precision.
          Is this beginning to sound familiar?
          In last week's address to the nation, President Bush admitted that he had made mistakes. Then he announced he would send another 21,500 troops into Iraq.
          These new arrivals will not know the country, the language, or the culture. They will have no experience in distinguishing friend from foe.
          Iraqi rebels should send George Bush a Thank You card for providing 20,000 new targets.
          I was originally inclined to give George W. Bush some benefit of doubt. But as invasions and threats of invasions multiply, I am forced to conclude either that he suffers from a serious learning disorder, or that his goals are deliberately malevolent.

PREPARING FOR FURTHER WAR
          An increasing number of commentators -- and not just those who see a conservative conspiracy under every presidential edict -- suggest that Bush is trying to find an excuse for unleashing the U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons.
          Nuclear weapons would decisively confirm U.S. military superiority. Retaliation, if any, would simply hasten Armageddon, the final conflict that evangelical Christians believe will result in Christ's ultimate victory and eternal rule.
          It's time to say "Stop!"
          If present wars widen and coalesce into a worldwide conflagration, Canada and Britain -- and possibly other NATO nations -- will have no choice but to stand by their traditional ally. It's inconceivable that we could or would support the other side.
          We need to make clear to the U.S. now, not later, that if they want to take on the world, they're going to have to do it alone.
          We don't want to get sucked into World War III.
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Copyright © 2007 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups permitted; all other rights reserved.
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If you have comments or questions about Jim's column, write to him directly at jimt@quixotic.ca