Wars and the nature of animals

Other wars you don't even hear about.
Balochistan - Balo who? You might ask. A small region in the south of Pakistan made up of a loose knit bunch of tribes that wants their independence. An isolated area not much there with some stone built houses no electricity or running water but I guess they like it that way. They are happy to trade the modern world for their own sense of security and self respect. The Pakistani government has tried to bring power and other services to the area but the locals will have non of it.
If that's the way they want to live then I say go for it. It's not like you're bothering the rest of the world.

Then there's Somalia. That's that non country that we've tried to help in the past with humanitarian aid when Clinton was in office. It looked as if they were just about to get some peace in the country when we stuck our nose into their business once more. First we dumped a bunch of military aid to the Ethiopians and had them try and clear out Al Qaeda. Problem is Al Qaeda isn't exactly a definable army and when you have unwanted guests in your country with guns and tanks you wouldn't take too kindly to the act either. Supposedly Al Qaeda was pushed to the far south of the country and things were a bit more peaceful until now when we're returning to a puppet war. You'll note that we sent 100 troops to the Congo in Dec to train their army against rebels. I wouldn't be surprised if we're not also training some Kenyans and Sudanese in the process.
But here's the problem folks. The idea of Al Qaeda and terror is just that. It is an ideology and a concept. You can kill as many humans as you like but you can not kill an idea no matter how hard you try. And as I may have said several times before at some point you will need to sit down and reach an agreement and that can not be done at the end of the barrel of a gun.
Interestingly the Afghan government has been trying to negotiate peace terms with the Taliban but again we're dealing with a somewhat loose knit group here. The country after all is made up of small local tribes that have no real allegiance to a central government.

In stepping back from world affairs this kind of reminds me of an experiment I did in a college biology class many years ago. We took two breeding pairs of rats and put them in a defined cage and let them procreate. After several months when space in the cage was quite limited many of the behaviors we see in today's society emerged. Some rats sat motionless and showed no interaction. Others continuously chased their tails. While other fought constantly even though they were provided with adequate food and water. When the experiment was over the rats were released into the wild only to return near the building where they were kept. I know we're not rats but I think that says something about the nature of animals on this planet.