Leave it to time

Vietnam

A rather offbeat link here since it is a business report, but it has set me thinking. Vietnam;s soaring economy makes it set to become a player on the wortld stage, in much the same way as market forces now drive regimes like China.

Vietnam is no longer "communist" of course. The south, along with its Amerikan puppeteers lost the imperial war, but in the goodness of time things have balanced of their own accord. China on the other hand has adopted the strategy of a market economy as an effective global weapon. But time is changing the balance there too - the demands of those same market forces are leading to a slow reformation of the political regime.

So to Iraq, probably Iran and maybe even ultimately, North Korea. Not to mention a few other remaining "enemies" of capitalism or Amerikan imperial design. War is folly and whoever wins or loses subsequent events tend to follow a path of their own. Iraq is the latest misguided adventure of the Amerikan-driven industrial-military complex which is itself becoming obselete in the face of planetary environmental changes which dictate the end of the exploitation potential of traditional resources. It is another failed enterprise which will particularly damage the reputation of Britain and Amerika for decades to come.

"Cut and run" would now be a very irresponsible thing to do, but a withdrawl from the meddling has finally been deemed essential even by the imperial warrior-caste whose beligerence has created the mess that country finds itself in. It is time for Iraq to pursue its own destiny again and there are plenty of ways the world can continue to help from afar or with the co-operation of neighbouring states. Indeed, the Amerikan-led "alliance" owes it the aid needed to recover from the devastation and destruction it itself has wrought.

Amerika clearly did not learn the lessons of its war in Vietnam. If not for that war, who is to say that the current resurgance would not have occurred of its own accord far sooner? The lesson is not just the futility of violence but also that nations adapt and survive as like the people themselves.

The Soviet Union fell not just because the propaganda and seduction of materialism gained ascendency, but because its government was incapable of finding a strategy that enabled it to play on the same game field. In many ways, the "Cold War" and the detente it brought is sorely missed as a stabilising factor on the world stage. Communism, especially as a tool of totalitarianism, is in decline - but one look at Russia shows how abrupt change from one system to another has not served its people well. We now see a return towards some form of centralised power in that region - it is not ideal but it has popular support for now in a nation desparate for renewed leadership.

Iraq too is desparate for a return to something that resembles its rememberence of normality. That will not be the same as the idealogy of its present occupiers. Yet, like Vietman, left to its own devices it may carve its own destiny in a way that will eventually aloow it to adapt to the world around it.

The so'called Islamist renaissance is but a blip on the radar of time. No nation, no people, can deny the commonality of human progress and interaction indefinately. War-mongering and territorial invasion is simply stalling and impeding the process of the diplomatic "policing" volatile situations require.

Later.