Extremism is a hydra

For the past ten ten years, it's felt like fighting terrorists is a game of whack-a-mole.  As soon as you beat one down, another pops up to take its place.  The fact is that there will always be someone to fill the place of a terrorist once they're gone.  This is the human condition.  Statistically speaking, there is at least one person with extreme psycho(or socio)pathic tendencies in every hundred people.  Experts may disagree on the differences between psychopaths and sociopaths, but the one thing they do agree on is the lack of remorse or guilt either feels.  Both are drawn to a destructive cause or purpose out of sheer selfishness and lack of empathy for their fellow human beings.


For example, this is true of Islamic extremists.  Those with political agendas take and manipulated the weak minded and ignorant Muslims who are susceptible to influence because of their real (or perceived) disenfranchisement and lack of altruistic nature.  They're taught to believe that someone else should be the target for their current condition and lot in life, and that their destructive actions, while probably enjoyable to them, are also going to provide them with a later reward.  If you remember, I wrote several months ago about the concept of revenge in Middle Eastern society, and this plays directly into this line of thinking with the lack of empathy.  The foot soldiers of the Taliban, Al Qaida, the Haqqani Network, etc are perfect examples.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_terrorism
Christian extremists are no different in that they're influenced by fringe religious leaders, although they usually act alone and have little to no direct contact with their mentors.  This is typically a "lone wolf" type of scenario, however, upon searches of their homes, it's clear that the campaigns of these fringe religious cults have specifically targeted these types of people, albeit indirectly, to carry out their agenda.  Abortion clinics and gay bashings are a favorite target.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism


Political extremists form from the inflammatory religious fanatics, political pundits, and assorted extremist organizational mouth pieces with political power agenda.  While most of these individuals do act alone, they're usually influenced by one of the groups I listed through means of brainwashing of the weak minded person with some type of anti-social personality disorder and lacking a functional conscience.  The extremist is able to identify their problems or anger with a situation on a specific group of people based on the rhetoric of the power players spouting this message of hate.  The extremist then feels fully justified in taking harm to others because they feel it is in their own best interest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_extremism

In Greek mythology, the Hydra was a multiple headed dragon that once you chopped off one head, two grew back in its place.  The only way that Hercules was able to defeat this monster was by burning or cauterizing the neck of each head cut off so that others would not grow back.  The same can be said for extremism.  The ability to sprout new heads will always be there, but we must make sure that the ability for them to grow and flourish is greatly diminished.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lernaean_Hydra

So how do we stop this? That's the tricky part.  How do we protect a population and not diminish the freedoms of another?  Here are some suggestions:
1) Seek out disenfranchised groups in society and seek to include them in the culture.
2) Better define gun control laws and enforcement of who can and cannot own deadly weapons.
3) Better tracking of individuals that may have prior indicators of psychopathic/sociopathic behaviors.
4) Set limits of free speech when it advocates harm to another human.

At this point, you're probably thinking me a fascist, but before our Bill of Rights and before our Constitution, we had the Declaration of Independence which stated that among other things that "that all [humans] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  The greater sin here is to infringe on that pursuit of happiness for another, and extremists, through sheer selfishness do just that.

So how do you stop extremism?  You cut off the head at the neck, which is the support system, and you cauterise the ability to regrow by stopping the rhetoric which makes these actions seem ok in modern and civilized society.  After all, we are humans, flawed to the core, with primordial and evil tendencies.  Legislating morality is usually not good practice, but I would advocate just need to legislate a code of morality that violence and extremism are never ok.  Now, where can we find Hercules when we need him?

More to follow.

Something with nothing

I had the opportunity to assist one of my Sergeants today in a humanitarian aid project she was assigned.  The National Director of Daycares and Orphanages has the main office in Kabul with facilities throughout the city and the rest of the country.  The director was a woman and my Sergeant, being the only female in the office, was chosen as the project point of contact in keeping with traditional male/female business relationships here.  She asked me to assist her in helping run this project from a experience perspective.

After a good meeting of discussing the director's wants and needs for the program and our explaining what we were able to provide at present and what we would take back to the office to consider alternate funding sources, we all drank chi tea and small chocolates.  Throughout the Middle East, guests are always entertained with refreshments, which are typically chi tea and some form of a small snack.  The tea is usually served near boiling hot and is customarily sipped after agreements are reached.  Hospitality is a very important concept in the Middle East.


With the end of the meeting, we received a list of all the government run orphanages/daycares in the Kabul area.  After which, we took a tour of the orphanage/daycare they had on site that serviced the central area of Kabul to view the conditions, staffing, and supplies.  It was dark and barren by most Western standards.  But it was obvious from the amount of women there running the facility, the children were still well cared for with the limited means they had available.


It was as if we had walked into an orphanage from the late 19th to early 20th century.  Yes, they had electricity, but very few lights and only a couple fans to make use of it.  There were no places for the children to sleep as they all slept on the floor, the lucky ones on smal mats.  There were few toys and books, and the institution also served as a school of sorts with educational material all over the walls in Dari, the most common language.  One child who wasn't afraid to shake my hand came up to me and said hi.  I gave him a piece of gum, and he looked thrilled.  With the prodding of his nannies, he told me "/tasha coor/", which means "thank you" in Dari.



In the U.S. Military, I'm used to accomplishing missions with less than optimal resources.  At times, we improvise and others, we make use of the limited resources available, because we know failure is not an option.  These women taking care of the children I saw today are dedicated individuals who make do with the limited support the Afghan Government can provide and still manage to make sure every child is cared for.



Our unit intends to make humanitarian drops to the ones most in need of supplies throughout the next year until we redeploy.  If you would like to donate to our humanitarian drive for clothing, shoes, hygiene products, toys, diapers, etc, for children between the ages of 2-12, please email me and I can give you specifics and an address to ship donated items.   Thank you.

More to follow.