The Clusterfuck Nation Chronicle

Commentary on the Flux of Events

America and the world wait for the other shoe to drop. The national spectacle of hand-wringing on television and in the newspapers has reached a climax and now we will be faced with the need to act. The time for candlelight vigils and teddy bear mounds is over.

Notice that there is virtually no discussion in the news about what this conflict portends for global oil markets and our imports in particular. The likelihood is disruption of markets and supplies from any angle that you view the situation, and America has got to prepare at once for major changes in our living arrangements. For only one example, it is imperative to begin right away to increase rail service for trips in the 500-mile range. These are the trips responsible for congesting American air traffic over the past decade. The railroad lines from Boston and New York to Washington and from Atlanta and Charlotte to Washington have got to be fixed, enlarged, and brought up to the highest level of service. One could make a long list of the routes needed and the cities to be connected by restored rail.

The global scene presents ominous possibilities. We probably must recognize that Pakistan is a nation on the verge of collapse and that the current crisis will likely bring on that collapse. In the event, I expect the Indian army to both protect their regional interest and to act as proxies for western interests in a weird reversal of the events of the late 1940s: that is, India will be compelled to take political control of Pakistan. India cannot afford a nuclear neighbor melting into political chaos with Islamic fundamentalists taking the lead in a civil war.

I remain convinced that the US will have to mount an aggressive action against Iraq. We are deeply concerned about "rogue" states and especially their stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. We know of at least one huge stockpile of these things, and we know that they are in Iraq. Can we afford to not neutralize it?

Many Americans, including high government officials, fear that additional terrorists at large inside the US will perpetrate more acts of violence and terror -- a release of anthrax, smallpox, Sarin nerve gas, and maybe even a nuclear device. Some of these scenarios may sound far-fetched, but seven days ago so did the idea of collapsing the twin towers of the WTC with fully-fueled commercial airliners, and striking the Pentagon at will. In the event that further acts of terrorism occur, it may become sadly necessary to resort to tactical nuclear weapons against our adversaries.

"Normal" life as we knew it before Tuesday Sept 11 is really over. We live in a new era of national emergency.