Time to End Childish Games

One of the joys of living on the Cape is that our children and grandchildren like to visit and its fun to watch the young ones grow in stature and intellect. When supper is finished we gather around the table to enjoy stories and play board games much like we did in the “olden days.”
With younger children we play simple games that require no experience and are easy to master. They learn to play the cards they are dealt, that no one wins every game and nobody likes sore losers. The same values they will experience throughout their lives.

President Bush enjoys playing games, especially with those who disagree with him. He arrogantly believes he can win every game and woe to anyone who dares challenge him. I believe he is playing simplistic games with our adversaries. Bush thinks in terms of today, tomorrow, next week, next month, the next surge or the end of the summer.

Our adversaries; however, are playing much more complex games, games like four-dimensional chess. They think in terms of decades or even generations into the future. They are very patient, and easily plan to make the ultimate sacrifice, even of their innocent children, for their beliefs.

These qualities are nowhere more evident than in the war being fought in Iraq.

It is clear that each new Bush strategy is met with a counter strategy. I wonder if our opponents learned how to respond by looking back at how our earliest patriots defeated England, at that time, the most powerful nation in the world. British soldiers wore red uniforms, plumed hats and marched in straight lines while colonists hid in the woods behind rocks and trees and waited “to see the whites of their eyes before firing.” We slept in the cold and endured terrible suffering while they used our homes for shelter. The British had superior resources but colonists had a dream.

Those we fight in Iraq recognize they are fighting the most powerful country in the world and they are willing to endure the hardships and privations to achieve their albeit less noble goals. And Bush’s plan is simply to stay the course.

Meanwhile everyday problems, like bacteria in our food, global warming, drug resistant viruses and other unknowns that will affect those on all sides of every issue, continue to grow and evolve.

The vast majority of Americans recognize its time to put away childish games.