Big Blue Blues

I have been upset recently, viewing the utter chaos in Iraq. As much as I have been opposed to the war, I have always hoped that our men would be safe and we could leave the country having done some lasting good. I wish the President could have spoken to someone like Colin Powell. The entire world was united behind our effort in Afghanistan in 2001. The President needed someone to tell him, to remind him that (1) war is hell, and (2) even the best laid plans do not always succeed, not to mention poorly laid plans. War is like that; one never knows what's going to happen, other than bloodshed. A long time ago I read a story in a magazine. It was this time of year, just before Christmas. I was sitting on a couch in my parents' frontroom, the empty boxes of Christmas preparations strewn about me like the aftermath of a joyous burst of enthusiasm. It was a story about world events just before Christmas. It scared me. This was the height of the Cold War. In the story, the nations of the world are at each others' throats and a war to end war - if not to end the world - is imminent. The leaders of all the nations of the world gather at the UN seeking one last time to find a way out of the deadly impasse short of nuclear war. In the story, there had been developed a super-computer, perhaps like Big Blue of IBM, and it was decided that, since every land in the world had chosen up sides, there was no impartial observer left to head negotitations and, thus, the delegates agreed to let "Big Blue" decided what course events should take to prevent war. All the nations agreed to abided by the decision of Big Blue. All pertinent data, present and past, was fed into Big Blue. There must have been some sort of extraordinary negotiating software to process the mountains of data. All this input took some time. Then Big Blue started processing the data. This took more time, perhaps a number of days. The delegates stood morosely about the UN waiting for some indication that an answer had been reached. The rest of the world went about their mundane tasks, looking forward to a Christmas with more fear than joy. At work, people ducked into the washrooms to cry. Some people bought nothing, not even food, and slowly starved from their depression. Some people went on an end of time buying spree, eating, drinking and being merry, since tomorrow we die. If not tomorrow, then soon. Everyone prayed and hoped that Big Blue would have an answer. Finally, the notification came that Big Blue had finished its deliberations over the state of the world and had a definite answer. The delegates of the nations of the world filed into the General Assembly of the UN and waited to hear. The Secretary General mounted the podium and addressed them, saying that the long awaited answer - and here he held aloft a sealed enveloped containing the printout from Big Blue - had come. The Secretary General lowered the envelope and opened it. Everyone tensely waited. The Secretary General read the paper and was quiet. He stood silent for a minute, then minutes. The delegates began to wonder when he would read it. The Secretary General let the paper fall to the podium and walked out of the assembly hall. After a momentary pause, the rest of the delegates rushed forward to see it. The US ambassador to the UN secured the paper and called for silence. Silence took a few minutes to regain control of the hall. Then he read the paper aloud: "Love One Another." He too let fall the paper and walked over to the window where the Secretary General stood. The sky was grey and it was beginning to snow.