Soap Box

“He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

This is from the book of Genesis 16:12 and deals with Ishmael, son of Hagar, the servant of Sarah. The birthright, however, belonged to Ishmael's younger brother, Isaac, for it was through him that God's promises were made to Abraham, the boys' father.

Later, Isaac would also have two boys, Esau and Jacob.

The story of Esau trading his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup is well known and how Jacob and his mother, Rebekah deceived their father Isaac, who was near-blind in his old age, into giving him the blessing that belonged to the oldest son which would have been Esau, since he had been born a little before Jacob.

God would later change Jacob’s name to Israel and he would go on to become the father of the patriarchs of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, the Hebrew people.

Esau would go on to be the father of the Edomites, the Turks, the Kurds, Syrians, tribes of nomadic people, in fact, a large part of the Muslim and Arabic world descended from Ishmael, Esau and their offspring, and although the Bible says that there was a reconciliation between Jacob and Esau, their decedents have basically been at war or at least hostile toward each other for thousands of years.

The more I learn about the Middle East and Southwest Asia, the more I realize how profoundly Western countries misunderstand the depth of the blood feuds, the vendettas, the centuries-old customs, the tribal loyalties and family ties that are so prevalent and so deeply rooted in this part of the world.

Their code of ethics, their sense of what is honorable, their ingrained adherence to male dominance and hatred of ancient enemies that have survived for millennia are things the Western mind cannot grasp.

The old adage, “me and my cousins against the world, me and my brothers against my cousins” certainly bears out the “wild donkey of a man” prophecy in the Old Testament.

There is bad blood between the Sunnis and Shiites, the Alawites, the different tribes and warlords in many places in the Muslim world and it always seems to come down to whoever has control of the most guns.

Trying to bring peace to the Muslim world is much like sticking your fist in a tub of water, the water is only displaced until you pull your hand out, then the hole closes up.

There is always another strong man, another ISIS or Taliban or al-Qaeda or Boko Haram or power-mad leader of a whole nation waiting in the wings to break the treaty or the cease-fire as soon as the restraining troops are pulled out.

In my humble opinion, America should never go to war without a clear goal and a valid definition of what constitutes victory, and that definition should be based on the interests of America and our allies.

We could keep troops in that part of the world ad infinitum, lose thousands of lives, spend trillions of dollars and as soon as we pull out the blood-shed between the factions would begin again.

Thanks to the loosening of restrictions on petroleum production, we no longer need their oil and if Europe and Asia are dependent on it, let them put some skin in the game, commit their own troops and look after their own interests. America’s days of being policeman for the world should be over.

We should adopt a strict “hands-off Israel or pay a price you can’t afford” doctrine, do a new assessment as to who is and who is not our friends, make our alliances, and with the exception of some special forces units to keep an eye on things, bring our troops home.

I even hate to say this, but I fear that not too far down the line, America will have bigger fish to fry as China, Russia and North Korea seem to be gearing up for something, and you can bet it will not be something that will benefit America.

How long will we put American men and women into harm’s way to separate factions and stand between religious sects, who, as soon as the troops go home will pick up right where they left off before we wasted American blood and treasure trying to change millennia-old enemies.

I believe with all my heart that peace will only come when to that part of the world Jesus Christ returns.

Until then, there will be wars and rumors of wars.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops our police and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

— Charlie Daniels

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