Not every problem is a nail. But some problems can forge nails if not corrected.
CENTCOM sees two main threats in its region centered on the Middle East:
Proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles and humanitarian issues are the two most urgent threats in the Middle East, Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said.
Sure, the poor man's cruise missiles are a
demonstrated threat. The military has the mission of dealing with that threat. They have hammers.
But "humanitarian issues" is misleading. Bad governance leads to poor economies which leads to radicalization of the jihadi variety. So humanitarian aid is needed, he says.
No. Humanitarian aid just provides more bad governance because there is more for the corrupt officials to steal.
The Arab Spring a decade ago failed. But it
was a lurch toward fixing bad governance. It was a yearning for an
alternative to royal or military autocracy, or mullah-run theocracy. Those have been the traditional alternatives for Arabs and they've left the Arab world behind as others advance.
Democracy was the novel choice of the Spring to fix that bleak history and promise of nothing better in the future.
The protesters were right. But democracy is more than voting. It is rule of law. Which reduces corruption. And keeps democracy from being the tyranny of the majority. Which increases good governance. Which provides better economies. Ideally that produces fewer jihadis. But that takes time.
We should support that transformation of the societies that breed corruption and jihadis. Just putting humanitarian bandages on the deep festering wounds that kill
the region's hopes for better futures is not the solution. All it does at best is make the problem the next president's crisis.
The Arab Spring was a faltering step in the right direction. The journey will be a long one. And until the locals make that journey, we can never rest assured that the forever wars that spring from the region won't blaze again and forge new nails to burn our homeland.
To be fair, this isn't the mission of our military. Dealing with drones is within their lanes. And even emergency delivery of humanitarian aid is something they can do.
So where's the rest of the government? And where is the sainted international community, of course? I kid on the latter. It is collectively fine with autocracy.
