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November 30, 2008
Parsing Disaster
As this entry was being started, I was watching CNN’s ever-pompous Wolf Blitzer quiz two senators (Republican Specter and Democrat Menendez) on the significance of recent events in Mumbai. What distressed me was that none of the three seemed to grasp either the urgency or possible consequences of events that began unfolding less than a week ago.After a few minutes the senators were replaced by a set of new participants, all experts on terrorism. Although more careful in their phrasing they still danced around the key issue: that the danger of a hostile nuclear exchange is now (at least) as great as during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
What has really happened during the past five days is that a successful terrorist operation, almost certainly encouraged and assisted by al Qaeeda, has brought the world close to nuclear war in a setting in which those with the greatest control over what happens next may feel the least responsibility for the consequences.
Indeed, given the fundamentalist beliefs in an omniscient creator by several such leaders, and that suicide is a legitimate part of the creator’s overall plan for the universe, the danger may have never been greater.
What no one seems to have thought out is how an overpopulated world poised on the brink of economic collapse would repair itself in the wake of such an additional (emotionally motivated) disaster. The days ahead will be critical indeed.
As I’m preparing to upload this, I’m still watching CNN; Fareed Zakaria has replaced Blitzer and is having an intelligent discussion with the (Hindu) chairman of the group that owns The Taj Hotel.
Perhaps here’s some hope after all; in any event, this seems (yet another) make or break moment in the history our species.
Doctor Tom
Posted by tjeffo at November 30, 2008 06:57 PM