On the Beach - Modern Day

 

 

 

 

"This is the way the world ends,

not with a bang, but with a whimper..."

 

Nevil Shute

On the Beach

One of my favorite books from years ago is On the Beach by Nevil Shute. It is a book about war and hemispheres. Without going into too much detail, the book concerns life in Melbourne, Australia a year after a major nuclear war was fought in the northern hemisphere. Even though the countries in the southern hemisphere were not involved in the conflict, deadly radiation was slowing making it's way south. Soon everyone would die, suffering the same fate as the people up north.

I thought about that book as I was watching the news last night. Our new war, which is terror rather than nuclear, has found it's way south. The authorities in Australia were lucky to have foiled a plot which would have been horrific in just about any culture. Six Islamic extremists were getting ready to capture an innocent Australian, behead that person, and then show the video tape.

In our new chapter in the War on Terror, there are no boundaries. Their are no safe zones. There are no hemispheres. This is a war of ideology. If you are perceived to be an apostate, a Christian, a Jew, a homosexual, the wrong kind of Muslim, or whatever, you are a candidate to lose your head. Our friends down under know they have dodged a major bullet. In response, they have raised their terror level to the highest alert. The British have also raised their terror level to "Severe". Not us however - we continue to live in the world of sunshine and lolly pops.

As we continue to dither and play make believe, the bad guys are getting bigger and badder all the time. An expert on the news the other night said this new group ISIL, will probably focus on soft target "lone wolf" attacks, as well as continuing to try to blow up an airliner. Not to say they don't want to do something spectacular to boot. ISIL will take advantage of any weakness, any openings to work their treachery and evil. In dealing with them, chance will definitely favor the prepared.

What have we learned as of late? First off, Al Qaeda is still active and has not gone away. They are still a danger to us. ISIS, or ISIL is young, aggressive and brutal. They are some of the nastiest people who have walked the Earth for centuries. Oceans no longer offer safe boundaries. If they can get to Australia, they can get to us also.

In On the Beach, as the radiation came closer, people prepared for death. It was inevitable. In dealing with the zealots who are coming out of the War on Terror, we don't have to take our fate laying down. We can take the fight to them. We first need to wake up. This WILL take boots on the ground. Not anyone's boots - American boots. ISIL is good at killing innocents - let us see how they fare against America's finest.

We did not start this war, but we can finish it. We need to drop our naivety and get real as to who the enemy is. Forget "PC". Our generals know what to do. We need to listen to them. The enemy is at of just inside the gate. It is time to "Cry havoc, and unleash the dogs of war!"