Bonfire of the Vanities

All we have to do is send two mujaheddin . . .
to raise a small piece of cloth
on which is written 'al-Qaeda' in order to make
the generals race there, to cause America to suffer
human, economic and political losses
--Osama bin Laden (fr. 2004 video)

'Cause the only reason that you're here.
Is 'cause folks died for you in the past
So maybe now it's your turn
To die kicking some ass
--Freedom Isn't Free, fr. Team America

Its real beauty is that it destroys
responsibility and consequences
--Farenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
__________________

My parents were born in the early 1920's, and the recent death of another old-timer led me to the topic of peace and prosperity in America, something which skiddaddled out the back door at some indeterminate time in recent memory.

In my parent's lifetime the U.S. fought Germany for a second time and Japan in a World War. We then proceeded to Korea, South Vietnam, Gulf War I, Afghanistan and Gulf War II, with sundry other conflicts along the way. This translates to six major wars in one lifetime; in my lifetime, there have been five (approximately one every 12 years.)

The other little wars should not be forgotten, for they add to the scale. They include Haiti, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, the Greek Insurgency, assistance to the French in the IndoChina War, Lebanon (mid-1950's), assistance to the Israelis (1948-present), assistance to Chaing Kai-Shek, CIA sponsorship of the Cuban Invasion, secret wars in Laos and Cambodia concurrent with the Vietnam War, secret war in Angola, armed peacekeeping, Grenada and Panama Invasion, the Contras, and the Bosnian and Balkans interventions, to name a few.
as hot-button issues

It is difficult to tabulate the actual years spent in warfare, since the events overlap. At least one-third of my lifetime has seen a peace-loving nation killing folks, and a large contingent of our society sees this as Christian and equitable. It is quite a sobering topic, when one considers the incessant nature of our warring.

The dog days of summer have given us the Muslim community center flap near Ground Zero and proposed Koran burnings, but Ranger wonders why Americans are not more concerned with the fact that the Constitution has been figuratively burned on a daily basis since the events of 9-11-01, by two administrations?

It might benefit mankind immeasurably if we burned all the Korans and Bibles in one big bonfire, using the resultant fire to immolate everybody, Christian and Islamist, who believe in waging Holy Wars.