MAPS DON'T LIE, BUT GOVERNMENTS DO

   Sometimes you have to wonder if typical Americans ever look at maps.  Because so often when we are told something by our government or read about it in the mainstream press, we simply conclude that the information was factually presented to us.  But familiarity with a map of the Middle East, for example, might get a person questioning things a little bit.  It could trigger the utilization of a little common sense based on geography and the precise location of certain countries relative to others.  Common sense is one of the great weapons of the citizenry.  It harkens back to the classic:  "who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes".  

 Use of maps gives a background from which we can formulate our own, singular reasoned judgment concerning events in far away countries.  The location of nations in the Middle East and North Africa reveal much about our policies and actions regarding Israel, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and others.  A truly reflective examination also reveals the very close proximity of some of them to Russia and should spur some thoughts about American activities and how they are explained.  To include, quite obviously, how Russia is portrayed.

 Try a neat little experiment and see what you come up with.  First, take a few minutes to gather your thoughts about events in the last few years in the Middle East and North Africa.  Then recall Gen. Wesley Clark's 2007 remarks about our country's plans for Iraq, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.  Then study a map of the full region.  Then employ some common sense.  I bet what you come up with might well not jibe all that well with what we've been told by our government and mainstream press.

-  Birney K. Brown