Masopher's Mind

Masopher opened The Times. He laughed, long and loud as he read this:

A Taleban commander and two senior Afghan officials confirmed yesterday that Italian forces paid protection money to prevent attacks on their troops.

After furious denials in Rome of a Times report that the Italian authorities had paid the bribes, the Afghans gave further details of the practice. Mohammed Ishmayel, a Taleban commander, said that a deal was struck last year so that Italian forces in the Sarobi area, east of Kabul, were not attacked by local insurgents.

The payment of protection money was revealed after the death of ten French soldiers in August 2008 at the hands of large Taleban force in Sarobi. French forces had taken over the district from Italian troops, but were unaware of secret Italian payments to local commanders to stop attacks on their forces and consequently misjudged local threat levels.

Mr Ishmayel said that under the deal it was agreed that “neither side should attack one another. That is why we were informed at that time, that we should not attack the Nato troops.” The insurgents were not informed when the Italian forces left the area and assumed they had broken the deal. Afghan officials also said they were aware of the practice by Italian forces in other areas of Afghanistan.

Sans the fanfare and heated debate of the last referendum, the Irish were again asked to press the potentially disastrous button of European federalization. Way under public radar it flew, scarcely a mention in the news until the deed was done. Europe is now that much closer to being a true union. The dreams of Hitler, like the French and English tyrants before him are finally being realized. But what is the form of this chimera? Unlike the visions of dictators and monarchs of the past, there is not a single unquestioned ruler. If anything there are even more questions now that each must look to all and look to others on top of looking to themselves.

The Baltic states which were gobbled up quickly after being regurgitated from Russia’s communist constitution are prime example of how troublesome it is to invite poor relations to live under the same roof. The prolific investment that was poured into that region in the 90’s quickly turned into horrific deficits barely a decade later.
Lisbon is both a desirable and a commendable goal. Coordinating the efforts of former colonial powers so that they themselves don’t become colonies of the United States, China, India or Russia is a smart thing to do. Globalization, once a whisper and a conspiracy is now a roaring fact. Europe must unite or face becoming the next Africa. History already knows of a time when Africa, Asia and the Americas were empires and Europe a fringe group of scuffling technologically backward tribes!

But perhaps beyond that is the teleological ever-present United Earth. With ASEAN, The AU and Mercosur blocs being formed, the 6 inhabited continents face even more pressure to consolidate the artificial lines running through them. Philosophically, intellectually, financially, the groundwork is already laid. United Earth has been seeded and germinated in the collective unconscious and its roots nurtured by popular fiction, travel, technology and increased wealth has started to break down the psychological barriers.

It has started but it is far from done. Countries, people and leaders are parochial and suspicious. Navigating the path between total catastrophe and salvation;  between a backward past and a bright future; between fear and hope is tricky to say the least. Lisbon with all of its flaws represents the attempt by the heads of European countries to put the past differences behind them so that they can avoid marginalization and relegation in an uncertain future.