The Threat Revealed: Part 1

I have declared before my belief that the threat faced now by the United States and its allies is far greater than what most people realize. I will now try and explain why I think that is so. This is going to be a series of posts, written as I have time to write them.

The Threats We See

Al Qaeda is easily the most visible threat we face now. An Islamist Supremacist organization which aims to establish an Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East, it views America as its chief obstacle to achieving its aims. Its members have no compunctions about killing innocents, including children, and have shown evidence in the past of actually enjoying such killing. There is literally nothing they won’t do, no act of barbarism they won’t make, no limit to their savagery. What makes AQ truly dangerous however, is the fact that the organization is devoted as much to organizing and training as it is to terrorism itself. Al Qaeda literally means The Base in Arabic, and is meant to be a base for a vast structure of terror organizations that will spring up over the globe. This has already met with some success. The organization trains teachers, who then go back home to their respective nations where they train others in the ways of terrorism, and help set up their own cells. It is a virus, and one that nearly impossible to stamp out.

The North Koreans are another easily seen threat. Almost certainly in possession of nuclear weapons, they are a nation which has a history of reckless actions and crazy leadership. As long as North Korea remains the most isolated nation on earth, it will continue to pose a threat to South Korea and Japan, and the United States as well. Questions remain about the role China plays in all of this, and a real solution to the problem remains out of sight.

The Mad Mullahs of Iran are also on a quest for nuclear weapons, and barring drastic change in the nation, I see nothing to stop them. Given their history of hostility to America and Israel, a dangerous uncertainty lies ahead. How much do we trust the Mullahs to behave? How rational are they? What would they be willing to risk to destroy Israel and/or America? And what role does Russia play in this?

Those are the threats most easily seen right now. In the next installment, those threats less easily or less often noticed.

My Apologies

I intended to respond far sooner than this, but fate decided to step in and intervene. My hard-drive decided that a few weeks ago was the perfect time to pass from this world into the next, and I have been spending the time in between trying to fix it, and upon realizing that was a "no-go", getting a new one. Hopefully posting will be somewhat more regular from now on.

The Greater Threat

I don't have much time, so I will say what I can.

The threat we face now is much greater than I have previously imagined. Indeed, I suspect it to be far greater than what most people can imagine. What I have seen as completely disconnected events, crises and incidents are in fact systematic of a greater problem. We are entering a new era, one in which I see (and call) the internationalization of the local. Globalization has brought us together, too close in fact, it has joined us before we are ready, and so this century will be, like the one before, one of conflict. Petty local concerns become global problems when you factor in issues like Weapons of Mass Destruction and International Terrorism. I do not yet fully comprehend just how vast this threat is, hopefully when I do I will be able to find words to describe it.

Update: Thanks for the comments. I should be able to clarify my statements within the next few days.