Our ancestors were not perfect, either.

Nobody wakes up in the morning wanting to do a bad job.

And as part of the European colonization times about 100 years ago or so, the idea of a nation state was dictated and decided on by diplomats in their time. The main way to do this was to agree on boundaries, and then have policies that supported the idea of nation states. Most of this was to benefit colonization with all its benefits, some local I may add.

Along the way, nobody seems to have asked the locals about their “national” loyalty, and what it took to raise a family to have kids who had self respect and some hope of a future.

Now we are paying the price, it seems. The price means things like using our militaries to impose our will. This is fine if it is in our self interest. This is one reason we fight wars.

Afghanistan is gaining all the media interests these days. But the friction between the idea of nation states and local tribes and warlords still goes on. In Afghanistan, some Americans might wonder why are they resisting us and killing some of us. Perhaps some of them are just being tribal with all its amplifications. As poor as their land and life may be by Western standards, that is what they know and will fight for. They have families, too.

Now they, mostly the Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan, are not perfect either. Their promotion of Osama Bin Laden is a good example. But that was 10 years ago, and now the present tribal leaders still have their own problems, but it is not the 10 year old tribal leader’s decisions and financing. Just like we Americans, foreigners, including outsiders, suffer in the end.

Add in another tribe with its leader’s aspirations, the Persians (who are not Arabs), and things can get complicated for the manipulator. But there are self correcting local solutions, and these people know it. And any attempt to dominate the region will be regionally resisted. Such is their dilemma. Welcome to a part of the world that is tribal.

And all we want to do is help. Like I am from the government, and I am here to help you.

Think about so many areas in Africa, or the trans-caucus, and our ancestors have set us up to support their ideas. Perhaps there is another way? Let’s consider doing it.

The future looks bleak if we continue this kind of foreign policy. By bleak I mean being un-American. Some might even say invoke the new world. That is what humans seem to be doing anyway. There is a way forward.