Let God come down and see

The expression "May God come down and see" is generally used to underline the value or truthfulness of what is presented as a real fact or when giving an opinion and especially when we are fully convinced that what we say or say is true even if the interlocutor may apparently find it doubtful or impossible given the strangeness of the facts told.

This expression, which loses much of its usefulness, but in these difficult and certainly improbable times that we are living in the world, seems to me quite appropriate ; especially if we look at the evolution and actions of contemporary politicians, their decisions and ways of being in relation to their rulers and their friends or allies, or for the way they conduct their internal or external policies without being aware that their actions can drag their own country or a group of them into compromising situations which, in many cases, can become very difficult or impossible to avoid or recover. 

It is not that this phenomenon is something new or unusual; throughout the ages, there are hundreds or thousands of examples of despotism, tyranny, persecution and egocentrism of leaders, emperors, putsches, dictators and even politicians who have been legally elected and who, over time, have degenerated or drifted into ways that are very difficult to explain under conditions of political and mental normality. Recent history and current history, to follow the marked pattern, are also marked by these phenomena that I would like to cite and analyse, although for some I do so only very briefly or simply on occasion.

After the tragic global confrontations of the last century, which were led by various fascisms, communisms and nationalisms, in situations of high tension and mutual distrust, the struggles for world leadership brought the world to a state of crisis, which has been defined as the Cold War. An atmosphere of increasing and sustained tension over time, which has resulted in enormous military expenditure and the exacerbated growth of the most terrifying weapon - because of its instantaneous effects - of all those in its family, weapons of mass destruction. I am of course referring to nuclear weapons and their means of delivery. Weapons which, despite apparent efforts by the international community to limit their research, production, testing, stockpiling and use or threat of use, have increased in quantity and quality, as well as the number of countries currently possessing them or threatening to do so. 

Once the above-mentioned phase after the natural fall of the Iron Curtain has passed, without having put an end to it, on the contrary, it seems that the interest in maintaining and perfecting many of the treaties that regulated and limited them, mainly for various economic reasons and selfish interests, has diminished and that at present most of them are no longer in force or are almost extinct or threatened with extinction within a short period of time.

Internal struggles to gain omnime or absolute power in countries of some importance, by undermining the precepts and even their own constitutions and the law, without regard to effort or detail; by legal abuses and by adapting legislation, courts and the role of the armed forces to their needs, are numerous, clear and obvious. Thus, examples of what has been said are still present in Russia, Belarus, China, Turkey, Venezuela, other countries in or close to Bolivia and, in a certain sense, Poland and Hungary, although they are part of the EU. In most of them, human rights violations against their inhabitants, collective or selective killings if necessary, ruthless political and police repression against those who protest and the lack of room for political or social disagreement are part of the agenda.   

There are still countries, communist or not, that are absolutist, dictatorial or fanatically religious, with impunity, such as North Korea, Iran, the Arab Emirates, Qatar, most African countries, Vietnam, Myanmar and a long list of other countries where anyone who is against the regime is persecuted.  

There are countries, such as Spain, which, although they have not fully realised or shown the evil actions reflected and used by the previous ones, based on the fact that they have acted for years with more or less concealment and with some external support, have gradually introduced diverse and progressive changes in customs, habits, precepts and laws, which in their time were considered fundamental and almost impossible to change at the whim of the government of the time ; but that without realising it, after a period of a few years, the sum of these changes means that the country is now in the process of becoming one. In just one month, we have received three important touches of attention from the "lukewarm EU" on the behaviour, intentions and political or legislative drifts of the social-communist government which, officially for the past year and more intensely, has been taking advantage of the open bar of prolonged states of alarm, trying to govern the country in its own way, by displacing and undermining all the pillars of democracy and the state, as well as many citizens' guarantees - even some of those strictly provided for in the Constitution - in such a way that the harmony and democratic standards on which the EU itself is based are seriously undermined. Standards to which all its members must adapt in a non-negotiable way. 

The only effective tool for stopping or delaying the application of the excessive impulses and excesses in which the Spanish government is involved is the fact that a deceitful and recalcitrant failure to comply with these standards could jeopardise the arrival of the necessary and announced, though not yet visible, aid funds and low-cost loans; supported, to make matters worse, by all the political parties that are its greatest enemies, and another, almost residual, unclassified and formerly central one, which is looking for a hole in the last breath of air, apparently, of the political arena to try to survive.   

It is not by chance that I wanted to leave the last place in this not very pleasant little story, for the country that is even more powerful and influential in the world, the United States. A country that, although it is not the first time that something similar has happened to them, in this long electoral process that is currently going on, has given the whole world an image as if it were the worst banana republic imaginable; they have been broken into two very feverish parts and left to the strongest of the bitumen the role and privilege of occupying the position of world leader because of all their bad examples.

Really and apparently, although with this unpredictable individual called Trump everything is possible; the Americans, despite the slogans, promises and fine phrases of their still-in-office president, managed to get rid, by a handful of voices, of a leader with few lights and many shadows throughout a mandate that, having been so intense and disturbing, seemed like three or four of them because of their hyperactivity and the great global repercussions of most of their actions. Among the few highlights were his achievements in the national economy, although in many cases this was to the detriment of others, his sponsorship of the recent peace agreements between Israel and various Arab states, and the fact that he was able to resist the investigation and the accusation of being expelled from his post (impeachment) carried out in his person, for the first time in the history of the United States. 

Among his many shadows, he has repeatedly threatened to engage in several nuclear conflicts even though they have all been falsely closed (North Korea and Iran); he has abandoned the key institutions on which the functioning, harmony and future of the CI rests; he has threatened the continuity of NATO ; He has promoted and practised alliances in different scenarios such as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan to break them up or leave them on hold when he was not interested and with great losses for those who joined; he has influenced the great variations in tariffs for international trade transactions endangering the same in the north, south, east and west of his country without the slightest concern for the costs of all kinds that could involve so many and such dangerous swings in these decisions; It has abandoned several agreements limiting the number of nuclear weapons or the range of its launch missiles; it has tried to put gates in the countryside by promising to erect an imposing wall with Mexico to prevent or put an end to illegal immigration ; disregarded and jeopardised the IC's efforts on the important issue of climate change and, as if that were not enough, being the country with the highest number of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths due to Covid 19, abandoned the WHO, made fun of the pandemic individually and collectively in all its campaigning, even though it suffered it personally and in part.

The show offered live during the days that the incomprehensible and long counting of votes lasted and what will last is to be classified in the annals of incongruity and evil of making a country officially so technologically advanced, and of the stubborn denial of the facts and tenacious resistance to accept reality on the part of a leader who must set an example precisely for having in his hands so much responsibility towards his fellow citizens and the whole world. 

Although he arrived at the American presidency four years ago with a great deal of controversy from certain foreign aid (Russia) and the appearance of the phenomenon known as Fake News, he was unable to accept the election results. His egocentrism, the enormous pathos of almost idolatry on the part of many of his followers and the great Caesarism that dominates him, will lead him to invest large sums of money in lawyers and lawsuits to try to overturn these results and he will use all sorts of tricks - as he did a few days ago with the number of Supreme Court judges - to try to obtain a final result that is very different from what it is today and according to the polls.  

The newly elected President of the United States, upon taking office in January, has a difficult task ahead of him to heal the deep wounds of his fellow citizens, to ensure that he continues to be a leader in the world and that, having put right many of his predecessor's mistakes on the international stage, he can once again regain the credibility and place he deserves in his role as a global arbiter.

Joe Biden, has against him for coming to the White House in the third attempt, as the longest living president in U.S. history and who has literally half the country against him ; But in exchange, he has important assets in his favour, such as being a very brave man in the presidential office (eight years as Vice President with Obama and many as a Senator), he has been active all his life in American politics and he knows it very well, He received more votes than anyone else in life for his nomination and he has an ambitious second on board, Kamala (the first woman elected Vice-President and not white) who can and must be something more than a vase or a "hot pee pot" as some irreverent people define her. She has created a lot of hope in Europe to re-establish links that are of interest to both sides, even if she has aroused some reticence among her main enemies (Russia, China) who had a trump card in their hands and whom they "manipulated" a little at will or with whom they played cat and mouse.  All that remains to be seen is how it deals with the issue of guns in civilian hands, the racist struggle and police persecution of blacks or people of colour other than white, as well as immigration and climate change.

Although in the United States, until Trump's arrival, presidents used to maintain the traditional or current international precepts and lines of action marked by their predecessors, if Biden tries to follow or regain, as is very predictable, even in part, the path of Obama's international policy, he could thus open up some hope in Iran and its nuclear programme - currently in disarray - and create some expectations of cooperation with North Korea. All this is based on the conviction that, like most Democratic presidents, it is very possible that he will involve the United States in a war; which will be very feasible because there are many fronts. In addition to those already mentioned, both in the Arctic and in the South China Sea, the Middle East and how to stop Erdogan's expansion are major issues that will deserve his attention. Trade relations with China or the United Kingdom after Brexit and the new definition of NATO's mission, structures and tasks cannot be delayed any longer. At present it is an almost obsolete, poorly funded organisation in the hands of the United States, which has recently shown its willingness to abandon it and is in constant conflict with Europe over the defence of European territory.      

There are many problems and too many cracks or real open wounds that bleed to be healed within four years, because, due to his age, it is very possible that he will give up his re-election. In any case, it is up to him to recover the role of the USA and the UN in IC and to try to make us forget the very bad example set by his predecessor so that those who follow him continue the task of rebuilding bridges. I believe that if this happens and if some of the problems mentioned above can be solved, it will be an arduous and almost impossible task; then it will be up to God to come and see him and certify him to us.              

                   

F. Javier Blasco Robledo. Retired Colonel