Like al Qaeda and U.S. militants, which have displaced millions with their twisted and aggressive ideologies, a new strain of "crazy" ants have arrived and are dominating the feared fire ants. Unlike fire ants that attack only when their nests are stomped on, crazy ants go everywhere, invading homes and nesting in walls and crawl spaces. Although crazy ants do not have as painful sting as fire ants, they can damage electrical equipment by swarming in appliances. In areas that are controlled by crazy ants, numbers of native ant species have greatly diminished. Armed with fierce jaws, a powerful sting, and tremendous strength, the dominance of such predatory ants took a critical step millions of years ago by forming partnerships with sap-sucking insects in exchange for protection. Some went further by defending and then devouring their sap-sucking associates.(2)
When asked how much longer the war against al Qaeda would last, Michael Sheehan, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operationsand Low-Intensity Conflict, answered: "At least 10 to 20 years." Having experienced a mutual but critical step in Afghanistan for ten years (1979-1989), both U.S. and al Qaeda militants introduced new strains of warfare and religious zeal. Equipped with the most advanced weaponry, the U.S. has rationalized a number of predatory invasions and strikes which have killed and displaced millions. With its media empire, an illiberal and militant-corporate-exceptional ideology has invaded millions of homes, nesting in the crawl spaces of millions of minds. Armed with primitive suicidal weapons and an intolerant faith, al Qaeda has resisted with a kind of fanaticism that would make even crazy and fire ants appear passive.
Sheehan also mentioned that there was no geographic limit to America's Thirty Years War, and that the Authorization to Use Military Force-established right after the retaliatory attacks on Sept. 11, 2001-stretches across the globe. Neither does there seem to be a political or emotional limit to the war in America between U.S. and al Qaeda militants. Ruling regimes constantly rewrite the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Retributionand reprisals seem unending between the two tribal colonies too. Will the light at the end of the tunnel appear when al Qaeda and U.S. militants milk each other to death, when their militant ideologies devour each other, and when they utterly suck the life out of each other? Until this happens, millions in the human food chain will continue to either suffer deadly jaws and stings or be eaten by U.S. and al Qaeda militants.
At least certain types of ants have an excuse as to why they are conquerors of Earth: genetic mutations and instinct. But alongside ants which conduct assassinations, skirmishes, and pitched battles as routine as business, what are the excuses of al Qaeda and U.S. militants? Studies reveal that aggression is a quantity in the brain that builds up and is released through either war or more subtle forms of violent play. Since aggressive behavior, especially in its more dangerous forms of military action, is learned, humans are predisposed to slip into deep, irrational hostility under certain definable conditions(3). For U.S. and al Qaeda militants, then, radical American Exceptionalism and Islam fed on each other in Afghanistan, as it still does today. With dangerous ease hostility feeds on itself and ignites runaway reactions that can swiftly progress to alienation and violence.
Unlike ants, humans have the potential to formulate faiths and ideals. When these are combined with fanaticism, irrationality, and aggressive and militant behaviors, invasive humans not only conquer the Earth but annihilate each other. Natural selection becomes extremely unnatural, greatly rupturing the delicate fabric of humanity and history.
Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)
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