The East-West Criminal Gap

Of all of the vast number of articles written about Islamofacism, the clash of civilizations, the clash between civilization and barbarism, and small wars in general, little is said about the roll criminals and crime plays in the social fabric of many third world societies and tribes. To borrow one often used line, one man’s crime is another man’s normal behavior. It is a difficult subject for many good reasons. Western thought processes and values too often differ from Eastern equivalents, and the two worlds don’t mesh together very well. One simple analogy of this idea is that of Byzantium outlasting Rome in its length of Empire time. The former was more Eastern, the latter more Western; yet many Westerners might think otherwise about which empire lasted longer (Byzantium did). Another typical reason for the gap is that Westerners tend to think more in terms of nation-states while Easterners experience more tribal, feudal, warlord, and mafia type experiences in local life and societies, and their histories. And Westerners tend to place a higher value on human life than do many members of Eastern tribes and such. The treatment of men and women, standards, and expectations also differ quite a bit between East and West. The parable about the five blind wise men trying to describe an elephant to a village of all blind people is appropriate to a discussion such as this. While each blind wise man was correct in his description of the elephant, none described the elephant as a whole. This parable is applicable to understanding the nature of the conflict today, in Western terms.

While the Middle East in general, and Iraq specifically, get most attention these days, there is a world wide war going on that rides on the title Global War on Terror. This article intends to focus on the world wide nature of this war, not the genesis for the war, although the two subjects do intertwine. Where they differ is in the nature of East vs. West and how the Islamic fascists exploit and spread their ideology. Quickly said, they use money to influence criminals in their local element. Let me expand.

The third world is full of small wars at all times. Today over 100 exist, though it is probably more like 130+. Without any action by the USA, these conflicts “just occur” for all the myriad of reasons: local power, resources, and criminal control of the same. History is replete with criminals wrapping themselves in the guise of political causes. After all, an element of truth is a very good argument to all cases. Today’s Islamic global war terrorists are using middle eastern monies to finance local criminals to try achieve their objectives. Just where this money comes from is a really good question, but just as important is how these middle eastern types interact with criminals from other cultures. From most points of view, it is not very well. Local criminals will rip off these middle eastern types just about the same as they will rip off us western types. This applies to missionaries as well. When missionaries return to their area of effort, it seems like their religion is often mixed with the local earlier religions, much to the chagrin of the well intended converters.

We in the USA have historical experience with this kind of behavior, that is mixing criminal behavior with the cloak of politics. The Civil War is a good example when one looks at the Missouri-Kansas border wars, or even Champ Ferguson on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.

It is the nature of this Global War on Terror that seems so frustrating to many USA citizens. The Afghan-Pakistan border area (Warziristan) comes to mind, but how about the opium poppy trade in Afghanistan, also. Don’t forget Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, or the Philippines. Add in genocide in Africa between warring factions, Somalia again, the Transcaucus, and the South American drug trade, and one wonders if the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

The short answer is “no”. That those with money from the middle east are trying to exploit the local too often criminal frictions seems to be going on today. But these people are not ten feet tall, and are often taken advantage of just as much as we are. Actually many think we in the West are doing better because we tend to be “more understanding”. Often this means someone has used their judgment as to the “lesser of two evils”. It’s a tough world.

So what is this elephant like? I don’t want to know about the skinny tail, the big legs, the snake-like trunk, the floppy ears, or the big body. Just tell this member of the blind village what is the elephant. In this effort, I think most in the West have just not understood the criminal element of those we face. We just have not been exposed or otherwise brought up this way. I think Muqtada al-Sadr is mostly an ill-educated theorcratic thug of the Mafia style. I think most of the theocratic dictatorship of Iran today is similarly motivated. Their economic survival and egos are more important than the people they control. I think the thugs in southern Thailand, Sululand in the southern Philippines, and members of Farc in Columbia are just as bad.

For those readers who choose to marginalize this argument by pointing out that we in the USA are not perfect, well I agree. My first time in Subic Bay (Olongopo) Philippines made me bitter at how whole families had prostituted their children to generate income, although it had gone on before the USA, and I am confident still goes on today. Perhaps it was the amount of the degree that made me bitter.

We in the USA may be too naïve about the rest of the world. Much of the world is like that elephant that we do not know (yet), but are getting more exposed to. I suggest being aware, tolerant, and also ruthless in defending our way of life. Notice I am not suggesting expanding our way of life. I just want to defend the good deal we have as citizens of the USA.