HOPE FOR THE FUTURE?

Qaddafi/Gadhafi/Khaddafy is dead. Libya can now begin to create a new government. With many different tribes it will be a difficult ordeal. I hope and pray they succeed in creating some form of democracy and do not fall into another dictatorship or a civil war.

Bin Laden is dead. We are beginning to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Saddam Hussein is dead. Our troops will be pulling out of Iraq and they will be home by the end of 2011. Egypt and Tunisia have overthrown their leaders and are trying to form new governments. We are seeing some great changes in the middle east. I hope and pray they will all be for the better. Syria is still having severe problems. The standoff between Israel and Palestine continues. There are many problems that remain. But conditions in general may be improving for the world as a whole.

These wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began with the beginning of the 21st Century. Now after the first decade they are winding down. They have cost US (us and United States) more than four Trillion dollars. (Some of that is my money and some of it is yours.) Much of it was taken from Social Security. After the war in Viet Nam, the US government became afraid to draft soldiers. There would be too much refusal and too much protesting. No one wanted any more of that. Therefore, the last two wars were fought with volunteer soldiers and career military forces. These wars nearly destroyed our army. The army is tired and worn. The medical expenses for the wounded troops will be astronomical. We saved more soldier's lives than ever before; however, we have people who are much more severely wounded, handicapped or disabled than ever before.

People are very weary of war. We are also very wary of war. "War is not the answer." We do not accomplish much through warfare. There are better ways of dealing with these problems. I hope and believe that now people will work to find better ways of dealing with the world's problems than through war. It is time to use our money and efforts to work for peace and justice. As the 85th psalm says, "Justice and peace are one." World justice will help us to attain world peace.