Monday, October 24, 2016

The Collapse of the Pentacle of Power

Five groups of people came together, all with the same goal, to get revenge on Saddam Hussein, and all are facing backlashes to the power games they have played. The games no longer work. The Pentacle of Power is collapsing, and none of them got what they wanted. They did get what they wanted, but not what they hoped to get.

People who play the power game of Pride do so because they lack respect. They play the game of War. George H.W. Bush waged war against Saddam Hussein in the early 1990s to stop his invasion of Kuwait. Bush believed he had the right to put Saddam down, but Saddam Hussein was attempting to stop Kuwait from slant drilling into his oil fields.

The Gulf War set the stage for the Iraq War--which devolved as a genocide, not a war. People who perpetrate genocides believe they lack capacity, and do so because they deny their own capacity. George W. Bush and Tony Blair judged Saddam Hussein to be evil, and now they are facing judgment.

George W. Bush and Tony Blair brought in the Coalition of the Willing, who played the power game of Greed, which comes from the lack of abundance. They were promised lucrative contracts for their support of the invasion but got nothing.

The Coalition nations brought in those who play the power game of Lust--particularly President Saleh of Yemen. Lust comes from the belief in the lack of intimacy and the fear of loss, and this game has elements of lack of respect and capacity. People who play this power declare themselves to be allies in the War on Terror, but at the expense of their own people. He has faced rebellion from his own people.

President Saleh drew in the last group to get revenge on Saddam Hussein, those who play the power game of Anger, lashing out at others because they believe they have no voice. Saddam Hussein refused to allow his people to play the games of terrorism, and so they were drawn into the Pentacle of Power. Their terrorist organizations--al Qaeda and ISIS-- have been hunted down, degraded and destroyed.

This U.S. presidential election has been particularly unusual because it started with three people of power walking into the election, each with sense of entitlement, almost a sense that they were too big to fail. At first it appeared it was going to be a battle between the Bush and Clinton dynasties, but many people feared four or eight more years of the same policies that have dominated U.S. politics since the early 90s.

How many people walked away from Jeb Bush because of his brother's failed foreign policy decisions? The sense of his lack of capacity? What happened to George H.W. Bush's dream to see two of his sons become president of the United States? Was it a lack of respect?

You can't get respect by waging war. Respect only comes from others who understand how difficult it to do what you are doing, like how Olympic athletes look at other Olympic athletes because they know how much time and effort it takes to make it to the Olympics.

The hell associated with perpetrating acts of revenge is that you do get what you want, but it is not what you hoped to get. Each of the five groups got what they wanted--revenge. It was the means to an end, but none have the same goal, and so they undermine each other. All are facing the backlashes from the power games they played.

The power games no longer work. You cannot get power by grabbing for it. You cannot get the life you want by getting revenge. True power comes from assuming responsibility to undo the damage that you and others have done.

The Exit Strategy for Iraq allows the Bush family to regain the power they lost by playing the games. The entire planet will function on a higher level because the proposal leads to the creation of an international court system so that disputes between nations are resolved in court rather than the battlefield. What may have appeared to lead to a lack of respect--meeting one of Saddam Hussein's lieutenants in court-- will actually lead to both nations being able to get respect. Both nations will attend the conference in Europe and demonstrate the potential of the plan to end disputes between nations.

You can get what you want, but you can't get it by playing the games.