If you look at the history of the United States we generally need an enemy to move forward.  We've had some forced upon us.  Pearl Harbor gave us a clear enemy.  We responded to that threat by coming together as a country in a way we've seldom seem.  We were forced to face an enemy in Hitler, eventually.  Later we found an enemy in the "evils" of communism and Russia and the whole cold war concept of MAD "Mutually Assured Destruction".  Now, most of these enemies were tangible, real and generally due to some direct action against our country or an ally.  But the bottom line is, we really need an enemy to come together as a nation.

Today we have "terrorists".  It's a tricky enemy.  It's a bit nebulous.  Oh sure, the "terrorists" attacked us on 9-11 but you can't really put your finger on "them" as the enemy.  We have been very successful in promoting our own agenda by claiming that some are part of terrorism.  We can call them part of the "axis of evil" and then do what we want.

Maybe it's a psychological need to be "fighting" something or someone.  Do you suppose that's a universal psychological need?  We are not capable of coming together as a country around something squishy like "good of humanity" or "fellow man" or concepts of helping "make this a better planet"?  I guess we need an enemy to really get motivated, involved and stirred up.

So I think sometimes we find or create enemies.  We wage war on things like "drugs" and "terrorism" and other enemies.  Terrorists are enemies of the United States.  We elevate thugs and criminals to the status of being "warriors" in the holy fight of terrorism.  We have our warriors.  We have the anointed ones who fight in battle for us against these other warriors in this "war on terror" against our enemies the "terrorists".

Why we elevated these thugs and criminals to that level of significance (of being a warrior and all that connotes) I don't know.  I can't fathom why gave them so much credit.  They are thugs, criminals and psychopaths. 

So who's our "enemy" today?  What enemies do we have?  Well, we have our "axis of evil" enemies.  We have our "terrorism" enemies.  So we rally around our flag to fight the enemies of the United States.  We obviously have "enemies" in Afghanistan because we are sending our troops there now.  We are focusing on this region of the world.

Perhaps we should consider the "enemy within"?  Perhaps we should think about what psychological need we fill by identifying and fighting external enemies?  If we could understand why we have this need to find and fight an enemy perhaps we could figure out what's really driving us as a Nation.  What do we really think is important in the world?  Who are our "enemies" truly? And must we always have an enemy to rally together as a country?  Can't we find something more positive to gather around conceptually then blasting other humans to oblivion?

Is the enemy a "they" or "them"?  Or could the enemy be war and the war machine iteself?  Could we not point to our military industrial complex and see it as an "enemy" of a peaceful world? From where do most of the weapons and means of mass destruction deployed and employed throughout the world come?  From the U.S. or other "world powers".  But mainly from the U.S.  Are we OK with "fighting" terrorism but then supporting, through the military industrial complex that drives the engine of our economy, most of the conflict, death and destruction across the globe?

Just my thoughts for the day.