the UnNatural Nature of Honey Traps

When Honey Traps can become Death Traps......

“Alright, Sam, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about ?”  Jethro asked bluntly.  “First of all, if it’s about my not havin’ returned your box of tools to you yet, well, I’m not done fixin’ my ‘ole Ford pickup yet.”

 

Sam kept walking toward the big barn with determined long strides.  “I don’t care about those tools, Jethro.  I know you’ll get ‘em back to me when your done.”

 

“Well, then what’s this all about ?  You are bein’ mighty mysterious about somethin’,”  Jethro answered with relief.

 

“I’ve got somethin’ to show you, and I just wanted to get some feedback on it,” Sam said swinging open the large barn doors.  “Just follow me.”

 

“Sam, you have not been the same ever since you got back from Iraq.  I’m tellin’ you, Buddy.  The government havin’ such a small pool of volunteers to draw from to send over to the Middle East on a rotational basis is not good for any of our Soldiers.  And when y’all get back and have to have your Wounded Bodies and Minds looked after, the Veteran’s Hospitals short shrive you.  It’s disgraceful,”  Jethro said angrily.

 

“I don’t wanna’ talk about that, Jethro.  We,ve gotta’ Republican Congress that thinks it’s cute to cut every budget put in front of ‘em. It just burns my hide the way that they cut all of the Social Programs, like the Veteran’s Programs and Benefits, and yet they’ll give the top 1%ers all of the tax breaks and tax havens they need for their spoils.  And get rid of all of the old regulations that used to protect the rest of America from the potential selfish desires and legalized theft of the top 1%ers.  And that theft is legalized and legitimized because they paid off the Lobbyists, the Lawyers, the Politicians, the Judges, the Bankers and whoever else they could find with their Red Hands out who would do their dirty bidding.”

 

“And then they’ll Smile to our Faces, while stabbin’ us in the back, and tell us that that kind of dirty greed is the American Way.  Well, that’s not my American Way, Jethro.  And not anybody elses’s that I know.  Includin’ some of my Buddies who lost their lives to protect America and her interests.  Heck, they’re not really Interested in any of us 99%ers that they consider bottom feeders.  They just use all of us to do their dirty work, and keep them Fat and Happy,”  Sam said brusquely.

 

“Sam, I didn’t know you felt that way,”  Jethro admitted.  “Then why are you always sayin’ how important Patriotism is.  And how Noble it is Serve America ?”

 

“Because the America that I Know and Serve, is not theirs.  It has nothing to do with them or their idiotic agendas.  The America I know and care about is here at Home.  It’s my Family.  My Friends.  My Town,”  Sam said simply.

 

Jethro stared at his Childhood Friend for a few seconds, “I’m with you, Sam.  Alright, You’ve got my short lived attention.  Why am I here ?”

 

“I’m worried about the new strategy of gettin’ our troops on the ground again to actively fight with the Middle Eastern groups the folks in charge think we should be helpin’ to fight.  We need to help them pressure the ISIS/ISIL demons and all of their other mean spirited groups from the periphery in other ways, with advice, air power, weapons in the hands of those we think will use them against their and our enemies.  It’s like they just don’t understand how changeable things are over there with those folks.  They’re very Tribal.  They have no allegiance to anyone or anything that is not a part of that Tribe,”  Sam said irritably.

 

“Yeah, they’re sick and tired of Authoritarian Rule for the most part unless it’s called Mullah or Mohammed.  They want what the rest of the world wants.  Peace and quiet and a stable life, and a predictable World to raise their families in, and build some kind of future in.  And who can blame ‘em,”  Sam asked rhetorically.

 

“But our Military Leaders are allowin’ their prideful attitudes and competitive feelings against Putin to lure them back into the Honey Trap. I have a very strong Intuition that some factions in Iran are usin’ Putin as the Bait.  And Putin wants to dig it to America, and play the Big Man on the Global Stage, and distract his people from their rotten economic and cultural problems, so he’s allowin’ himself to be used.”

 

“”Ole Putin will play their Game until he’s tired of it or it’s suggested that he pull out of the Middle East for one reason or another militarily.  And America will be committed to continue to help the Middle Easterners with our War Machines and our Soldiers, and Armageddon will be on.  Because America has Integrity, which is somethin’ Putin and some Iranians don’t have.” 

 

“We’ll stay the course to save the Middle Easterners from themselves which is nothin’ but a losin’ proposition in and of itself.  But we’ll stay the course anyway, because of the mistakes we made in gettin’ involved over there in the first place for Oil and Blood Money, and because it’s the Right thing to Do.  And in doin’ so the Honey Trap will swallow us, and everything and everyone else around it whole,”  Sam said as he flipped up an old, bent up section of corrugated tin from a hole in the ground.

 

“Putin will move in and out of the Middle East free and easy, and laughin’ all the way to the Bank.  He’ll look like some kind of Hero, which is what he wants and what his Ego needs, and our Soldiers will still be dyin’ over in that Honey Trap turned into a Death Trap.”

 

“We need to keep sendin’ our Dragons in to help, and sendin’ Food, Clothing, Shelter, Medical Supplies and Good Advice over to all of those desperate folks in the Middle East.  Not puttin’ our Boots on the Ground, and allowin’ ourselves to get caught up in another Pit of Quicksand, we’ll never see our Way clear of.  We need to let Putin and the Iranians have it, and have at it.  Let them spend their countries Lives and Treasure on that Toxic Mess over there.  Let them Pay the Price too many of us Americans have had to pay for an Oil Slick in the Sand,”  Sam said pointing down into the dark Pit in the ground he had just uncovered.

 

“Do you see those two Rattlers crawlin’ around down there ?”  Sam asked Jethro.

 

Jethro squinted, and leaned down a little closer to get a better look.  His efforts were greeted by the sudden quick and loud rattling of the tails of the imprisoned serpents below.  “Yep, I see ‘em, Sam.  You plannin’ on fattenin’ them up and fryin’ em up for supper some time in the Future ?”

 

“Ha !  Maybe,”  Sam said smiling.  “I named one of ‘em Putin and the other the Middle East.  See all of those elongated oval Eggs over there in the corner ?”

 

“Yeah, I do.  Which one laid the babies ?’  Jethro asked out of genuine curiosity.

 

“I’m pretty sure that the Rattler I named Middle East did,”  Sam said matter-of-factly.  “Can you guess what will happen to the young Rattlers when they start hatchin’ out of their Protected Eggs ?”

 

“Yep, since there’s nothin’ else in that hole to eat, ‘ole Putin and Middle East will have themselves a relative Reptilian Feast on those pint sized sidewinders,” Jethro surmised.

 

“Yep, I pretty much came to the same conclusion, Jethro.  Some situations you can just see comin’ long before they get there,”  Sam agreed.

 

Jethro continued to peer down into the Dark Pit.  "Now, that's a Honey Trap soon to become a Death Trap if ever I've seen one."

 

Sam slid the large piece of rectangular tin back over the Dark, rattling and hissing, Pit.  “How about a glass of Betty Jean’s sun tea and a piece of her homemade apple pie fresh out of the oven, Pard ?”

 

“Have you ever known me to turn down anything Betty Jean throws together ?”  Jethro asked with a mischievous grin

 

“No, never,”  Sam answered as the two friends closed the barn doors behind them and mosied on up to the ranch house toward the comfort of Betty Jean’s company and her prize winning apple pie and sun tea.