Pres. Barack Obama opted to reinforce the NATO force along with smattering American soldiers in Afghanistan by a stronger surge of combatants with sophisticated weaponry, tanks, and aircraft. Just lately, American GI’s conducted active field sorties in Southern Afghanistan, like, Waziristan and Helmand regions and farther to the Swat Valley border. They even have sustained few GI casualties, especially from road landmines, followed by 7 British soldiers downed in one day operation.
Afghanistan is not just a flash point now, but an on-going battleground that Taliban and Al Qaeda would defend, perhaps in guerilla-type warfare as the terrain favors them. Historically, Taliban’s long drawn-out war with Russia had seen the latter withdrawing. For another, Taliban and Al Qaeda have very high stakes over the opium produce in Kandahar and elsewhere to sustain them, since 90% of the world opium supply comes from Afghanistan.
Whether USA is ready to wage a sustained war of attrition in a war zone much unfriendly terrain-wise than Iraq, is quite a conundrum. With Iraq’s war for 6 years, the now-escalated Afghan warfront that may lag on, Uncle Sam’s expenses have gone $936 billion. As the latter war is still on-going, the trillion dollar mark isn’t far ahead.
Would the Afghan campaign end Bin Laden’s extremism and his Al Qaeda, and the waterloo of the Taliban led by Baittulah Mehsud? It’s anybody’s guess. Or, would it be as hazy in terms of victory as that in Iraq, or would it be a scourge of defeat for Uncle Sam as in old Vietnam?
Still another dangerous flash point that flickers off-and-on and, just recently glowed in battle, is the sensitive feud between the Israelis and the Palestinians, particularly the Hamas regime, given the conflict over Jerusalem itself, and the tottering truce in Gaza and the West Bank. Even the Jewish separation wall – shades of Berlin Wall – along Jerusalem edge is an eyesore and source of conflict, but Israel justifies it to prevent suicide bombers crossing over to Jerusalem.
But even with the West Bank that Israel is supposed to vacate to restore to the 1967 status quo, or at least, to stop further Jewish settlements, it appears that it pales from the mutual threats between Iran and Israel regimes, whose ballistic missiles are pre-targeted at each other.
Iran itself is a flash point. With Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s election loss to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, post-election demos resulted in various casualties and damage of properties. As one of three “axis of evil”, Ahmadinejad is so inebriated to accelerate in making nuke bombs and ballistic missiles. And his immediate target range is Israel.
Despite sanctions by the UN Security Council, Iran has not been contained. It’s a matter of time that Iran becomes a full nuke state. Incidentally, Iran’s hatred against Israel, and vice-versa, may also trigger a similar ballistic stance by another Israeli-hater – Syria – which abets internecine plots by Lebanon’s Hizballah against Israel.
There’s the long-standing bad blood between two border states with nuclear powers, India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Also at odds over religious affiliations, their conflicts occur now and then, short of touching sensitive nuclear red buttons.
The touchy relation between China and progeny Taiwan isn’t over… At present though, that its former President Chen Shui-bian as very vocal for Taiwan’s independence had lost to Ma Ying-jeou. China and Taiwan seem at peace now. It’s providential that the latter isn’t mulish for independence, and so, China isn’t so belligerent to over-run Taiwan. And perhaps, the pre-targeted nuke missiles at Taiwan have been lowered to rest, for now.
Do these global flash points and others elsewhere augur the prophetic apocalypse that threatens mankind in the Good Book?