by Marcus Brooks

Created on: January 04, 2009

"The only peace to be gotten is for the dead."

This horrible quote has plenty of truth to it. There are places in the world where chaos is king. There is an existing discord that threatens the lives and properties of defenseless populations. The usual suspects to preventing peace are the Middle East, East Africa, Sri Lanka and Colombia. These locations are among the dozens with some type of civil war, guerrilla conflict or political upheaval amiss. Peace is a foreign language in our world. Peace is a leprechaun's pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Peace is a fable with a horrible end.

GAZA

The skyline over Israel is filled with orange flames and smoke. Gaza citizens are huddled in their basements and underground shelters after listening to hours of artillery barrages. They live in repression from their Hamas terrorist rulers. Israel is approaching its 61st year of being recognized as a nation. They are approaching their 61st year by killing more Palestinian civilians for the purpose of national security.

UGANDA AND CONGO BORDER

In the Congo, refugees are terrorized by Lord's Resistance Army militiamen. The LRA are attacking Congolese civilians with machetes and clubs. They are burning civilians from their homes. They kidnap children for recruitment in their militias. After their murderous attacks, their armies retreat back to their Ugandan sanctuaries. In response, Uganda's government forces and Congo's national army are coordinating a campaign to crush the LRA. Both armies are committing atrocities against "suspected" rebel sympathizers. In a recent massacre at a Catholic church, there are claims that LRA militiamen hacked to death 45 people and wounded 200 others. These claims are suspicious. The local media is steered to the government's favor.

SRI LANKA

The Colombo government is guaranteeing their New Year's resolution. They are attempting to eliminate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelaam as a terrorist organization once and for all. Sri Lanka's 30-plus year civil war is among the longest and bloodiest in the Eastern Hemisphere. A government offensive is about to land them the Tiger's Northeastern stronghold. They are pushing the rebels into the extreme northeast part of the island. However, the Tamil Tigers are known for their viciousness and resiliency. Also, they remain the only terrorist organization with a sophsticated, air force at their disposal.

The Tamil Tigers' war for an autonomous homeland is reaping unimaginable, human costs. They are destroying

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