Dark Days Close Out 2008 and First Decade of Millennium

As the world is days away from the end of 2008 and draws ever nearer to the end of the decade, the world appears quite different than when we entered into the 21st century. Following the perceived "threat" that was Y2K, the state of world affairs was seen by many as relatively calm. That calm was of course shattered violently on a sunny September morning in 2001. Following the attacks of 9/11 various other nations have been dealt attacks from Islamists seeking to spread their terror across the globe yet again.

The horror of Madrid played out during March of 2004 on televisions across the globe. I myself was on a train in Switzerland when armed Swiss military police boarded our train in the middle of an open field asking to see passports and IDs of all passengers aboard. At the time we had not yet heard of the horrific attacks that had played out in Madrid earlier in the day. It wouldn't be until my friend and I arrived at our hotel room that we would see the carnage so many others had already witnessed.

London was also a target as Brits ran for their lives amongst bombs tearing through their city and one can never forget the infamous image of an idealic red double-decker bus with its top story and roof torn off. London continues to be under the grave threat of another Islamist terror attack, along with the United States and Australia, which sits disturbingly close to the world's largest Muslim nation, Indonesia.

Now, in the waning days of 2008, two historically volatile regions have flared up once again. Pakistan and India sit once again face-to-face with the threat of war looming following the Mumbai terror attacks of last month. As many suspected immediately, all roads led back to Pakistan. Now, Pakistan has moved it's army east as it prepares for what could be a showdown with their Indian neighbors.

This move will also have implications for U.S. troops in the area. Now, whatever role the Pak army has played in the Waziristan region will no doubt be reduced which will possibly lend more freedom of movement to the Taliban and other fighters hiding out in the region. This, coupled with a coming American troop increase next year in Afghanistan, will lead to some interesting foreign policy decisions for the incoming President-Elect, Barack Obama.

Finally, before the Christmas lights could even be turned off and much less taken down, Israeli jets have hit countless targets inside the Gaza strip following Hamas' decision to call off the "ceasefire" and begin lobbing missiles back into the Jewish state to randomly murder innocent Israelis. There will be innocents killed on both sides and that will break any decent person's heart. However, a strike by Israel has been long coming. For now government can be expected to sit idly by while its citizenry is under the constant threat of random murder via Qassam rockets shot by Palestian terrorists. Perhaps one day the people of Palestine will grow weary of such leadership that brings such repercussions upon them.

The world faces some dark times in the near future and coming years. President-Elect Barack Obama had best have his gameface on when he takes office early next year. To spout campaign slogans during an election is one thing for any politician to do. But next year, he will be making real decisions that will affect the lives of countless Americans and those of our allies. I pray he is more mature and historically-astute than what he has appeared to be during his campaign and his short time on the national scene. I'm not holding my breath.

2009 will be yet another year of high international tensions. Just how high those tensions will go remains to be seen.