NOT the New Rome
In the event that you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, there’s a bit of a tussle going on in Lebanon. Frankly, I think Lebanon is reaping what it’s sewn for their lack of diligence for the past decades in not getting rid of Hezbollah, who themselves need to have their collective asses exterminated. Period.
God bless Israel for having the testicular fortitude to do what needs to be done.
But what’s driving me to dust off my password and post today isn’t the conflict itself, so much as it’s the American tourists who are demanding to be evacuated, for free no less, even after traveling to what’s got to be one of the least safe tourist spots on the planet! Case in point, check here. I feel bad for them being stuck there in the middle of a real-life shooting war and all, but jeez, what prompted them to go to Lebanon in the first place? It wasn’t that long ago when their Prime Minister was assassinated by a BOMB, no less.
Many Americans suffer from a sense of Imperiosus Civitas when they travel abroad and it just boggles the mind. For some unknown reason, they feel that being an American citizen somehow absolves them from harm, like Roman Imperial Citizenship protected those citizens in their day. Anyone harming a Roman Citizen (not just an inhabitant of the Empire, but a genuine Citizen) immediately faced the death penalty, so inhabitants of other regions went out of their way to not harm Roman Citizens. If it did happen, Rome wasted no time in hunting down the offenders, regardless of who might be swept up along with them, and executed them in the most gruesome manner possible.
The trouble is, the US isn’t, nor ever will be, Rome. Apart from the fact that we don’t have an Empire, regardless of what the numbnuts on the Left will tell you, we don’t have the clout the Roman Empire had because we don’t have the balls the Roman Empire had.
One of the few times we came close was back under Teddy Roosevelt who, in my opinion, was the last President this country had who seriously cared for the individual American and not some special interest. Ever seen the movie “The Wind And The Lion”? Based on a true story, TR sent Marines into the Middle East (yeah, we’ve been doing that for a while) to locate a kidnapped American. That’s what Rome would have done; sadly, it’s what a lot of Americans expect our government to do, though it’ll never happen.
Firstly, being an American often makes one more of a target than “that which should be avoided.” It isn’t because we are arrogant or ignorant, though in many cases we are, but it’s because we’re such easy marks. The Bad Guys, regardless of national or ethnic origin, can spot us a mile off. We’re lax on personal security. We wander about with a sense of awe at what we’re seeing rather than a sense of what (or whom) is around us. We wear the same clothes that we’d wear to the mall, seemingly oblivious to the fact that NO ONE outside the US dresses precisely the way we do (i.e. - ever go to Europe and notice who else is wearing sneakers or running shoes with casual clothes? Yep, only other Americans; Europeans NEVER wear running shoes except when they’re actually exercising. In fact, they’ll wear regular shoes to the park, then change their shoes to jog, then change them back before leaving.)
A lot of times, it’s just a pickpocket looking for someone who’s not as diligent as the average local, but these days, terrorism changes all that.
Secondly, this government will not stick its neck out to go forcefully rescue an American in a bad situation (apart from in Iraq, which is a different situation entirely), mainly because we don’t wish to draw the ire and scorn of “world opinion” or those in our own country who harp on us to be more diplomatic. Why? Probably because in order to rescue someone it takes a certain degree of aggression and we just don’t have the balls to do that.
Case in point: Carthage. During the last of the Punic Wars, Rome defeated Carthage, their rival across the Mediterranean. In order to ensure that everyone, especially Carthage, knew precisely where they stood on the matter, the Roman armies decimated the population; literally lined up entire cities and villages and killed every tenth person, be they man, woman, or child. They then proceeded to sew salt into the Carthaginian fields to the point that to this day, crops won’t grow there. Granted, these days that would be a bit extreme, but when was the last time you heard any crap out of Carthage? Think the US would do anything even vaguely approaching that today? Of course not.
In some ways, I have to wonder why we can’t take a hint from the Soviets. Back in the early 80's when everyone was so hostage-happy in Beirut, someone had the gall to kidnap a Russian diplomat and demand a ransom for him, much like what had happened to a number of Western diplomats and journalists. But they forgot one very important thing: they’d kidnapped a Russian, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, and as such, they now had to deal with They Who Don’t Play Nice.
The Spetsnaz wasted no time in finding out who’d perpetrated the kidnapping, and then kidnapped their family members. Instead of a ransom, the kidnappers received a note from the Russians in a box filled with the pinky fingers of everyone they’d nabbed. The note read (paraphrasing here) that they would receive their family members, bit by bit, until the Russian diplomat was released. The kidnappers let the Russian go the very next day.
Again, think the US would ever do something like that? Not only no, but hell no! Supposedly, we’re the Good Guys, and we would never do something like that. Well, until we ARE willing to do something like that, get used to the idea that when you travel you might end up as someone’s target, because everybody else out there realizes we would never do that, too.
If the US was to start behaving like the old Roman Empire, then and only then would US citizens be free to strut about with some semblance of immunity. Until then, watch your back, dress more like the locals, don't travel to places that are likely to erupt in gunfire at the drop of a friggin' hat, and don’t piss and moan when my Marines come drag your sorry asses out of the frying pan.
Semper Fi,
The Almighty Mattski
God bless Israel for having the testicular fortitude to do what needs to be done.
But what’s driving me to dust off my password and post today isn’t the conflict itself, so much as it’s the American tourists who are demanding to be evacuated, for free no less, even after traveling to what’s got to be one of the least safe tourist spots on the planet! Case in point, check here. I feel bad for them being stuck there in the middle of a real-life shooting war and all, but jeez, what prompted them to go to Lebanon in the first place? It wasn’t that long ago when their Prime Minister was assassinated by a BOMB, no less.
Many Americans suffer from a sense of Imperiosus Civitas when they travel abroad and it just boggles the mind. For some unknown reason, they feel that being an American citizen somehow absolves them from harm, like Roman Imperial Citizenship protected those citizens in their day. Anyone harming a Roman Citizen (not just an inhabitant of the Empire, but a genuine Citizen) immediately faced the death penalty, so inhabitants of other regions went out of their way to not harm Roman Citizens. If it did happen, Rome wasted no time in hunting down the offenders, regardless of who might be swept up along with them, and executed them in the most gruesome manner possible.
The trouble is, the US isn’t, nor ever will be, Rome. Apart from the fact that we don’t have an Empire, regardless of what the numbnuts on the Left will tell you, we don’t have the clout the Roman Empire had because we don’t have the balls the Roman Empire had.
One of the few times we came close was back under Teddy Roosevelt who, in my opinion, was the last President this country had who seriously cared for the individual American and not some special interest. Ever seen the movie “The Wind And The Lion”? Based on a true story, TR sent Marines into the Middle East (yeah, we’ve been doing that for a while) to locate a kidnapped American. That’s what Rome would have done; sadly, it’s what a lot of Americans expect our government to do, though it’ll never happen.
Firstly, being an American often makes one more of a target than “that which should be avoided.” It isn’t because we are arrogant or ignorant, though in many cases we are, but it’s because we’re such easy marks. The Bad Guys, regardless of national or ethnic origin, can spot us a mile off. We’re lax on personal security. We wander about with a sense of awe at what we’re seeing rather than a sense of what (or whom) is around us. We wear the same clothes that we’d wear to the mall, seemingly oblivious to the fact that NO ONE outside the US dresses precisely the way we do (i.e. - ever go to Europe and notice who else is wearing sneakers or running shoes with casual clothes? Yep, only other Americans; Europeans NEVER wear running shoes except when they’re actually exercising. In fact, they’ll wear regular shoes to the park, then change their shoes to jog, then change them back before leaving.)
A lot of times, it’s just a pickpocket looking for someone who’s not as diligent as the average local, but these days, terrorism changes all that.
Secondly, this government will not stick its neck out to go forcefully rescue an American in a bad situation (apart from in Iraq, which is a different situation entirely), mainly because we don’t wish to draw the ire and scorn of “world opinion” or those in our own country who harp on us to be more diplomatic. Why? Probably because in order to rescue someone it takes a certain degree of aggression and we just don’t have the balls to do that.
Case in point: Carthage. During the last of the Punic Wars, Rome defeated Carthage, their rival across the Mediterranean. In order to ensure that everyone, especially Carthage, knew precisely where they stood on the matter, the Roman armies decimated the population; literally lined up entire cities and villages and killed every tenth person, be they man, woman, or child. They then proceeded to sew salt into the Carthaginian fields to the point that to this day, crops won’t grow there. Granted, these days that would be a bit extreme, but when was the last time you heard any crap out of Carthage? Think the US would do anything even vaguely approaching that today? Of course not.
In some ways, I have to wonder why we can’t take a hint from the Soviets. Back in the early 80's when everyone was so hostage-happy in Beirut, someone had the gall to kidnap a Russian diplomat and demand a ransom for him, much like what had happened to a number of Western diplomats and journalists. But they forgot one very important thing: they’d kidnapped a Russian, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, and as such, they now had to deal with They Who Don’t Play Nice.
The Spetsnaz wasted no time in finding out who’d perpetrated the kidnapping, and then kidnapped their family members. Instead of a ransom, the kidnappers received a note from the Russians in a box filled with the pinky fingers of everyone they’d nabbed. The note read (paraphrasing here) that they would receive their family members, bit by bit, until the Russian diplomat was released. The kidnappers let the Russian go the very next day.
Again, think the US would ever do something like that? Not only no, but hell no! Supposedly, we’re the Good Guys, and we would never do something like that. Well, until we ARE willing to do something like that, get used to the idea that when you travel you might end up as someone’s target, because everybody else out there realizes we would never do that, too.
If the US was to start behaving like the old Roman Empire, then and only then would US citizens be free to strut about with some semblance of immunity. Until then, watch your back, dress more like the locals, don't travel to places that are likely to erupt in gunfire at the drop of a friggin' hat, and don’t piss and moan when my Marines come drag your sorry asses out of the frying pan.
Semper Fi,
The Almighty Mattski
posted by The Almighty Mattski | 13:39
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