http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/09/09/obama-propose-higher-refugee-ceiling-syrian/71948318/

……here we go.

We, and our allies, are the most powerful force that has ever existed on Earth. Rome ruled for nearly a thousand years because they were not limited by cultural morality. We are far more powerful that Rome ever was and we could solve the Jihad problem easily if we were not bound by our evolved morality. We could destroy every vestige of their religion and kill as many as necessary to end their will to fight. They would do that to us if they could. We can, but our evolved macro morality rightly prevents it.

Even if some nut case is elected in the US or elsewhere, the things required to end the problem can’t be done. No matter how powerful, individual nations are constrained from handling problems the way that Rome did. We can only hope that at some point they will evolve as we have. Sick to death with war and death to the point that reasonable factions prevail over individuals.

The obvious answer is to just walk away from the problem and let them “go at it” until they emerge as a nation that will negotiate in good faith. This is complicated by economic and humanitarian concerns. If we abandon Israel we could probably buy all the oil we need, but do we stand by and watch the apocalypse? Can we? Should we?

“It’s wisdom, but not the satisfying kind. It offers little comfort to the afflicted. What seemed like clear morality two decades ago has gone completely dark. Intervention in Libya created a failed state, a base for jihadists, and more killing. Non-intervention in Syria allowed for a failed state, a base for jihadists, and massive killing. No one should be sleeping well.”

We are used to thinking of war as a contest between nations, cultures, religions, ideologies, even economic systems. This deludes us into thinking that it is a rational tool for implementing policy and imposing one’s will; or perhaps preventing others from doing so. Maybe we’ve got it all wrong.

It used to be said that all wars were wars of attrition. Perhaps that is wrong. Maybe wars have become exercises in extermination. And the factors that gave combatants an advantage in the past, such as numbers, wealth, technology, leadership; even morale, will and determination, simply don’t matter any more.