I would love to shun the cynical pessimist that lurks inside me. He looks at the world and realizes the futile effort of those protesting for peace.

I do not intend to sound as though I have a personality disorder, but in order to not drown myself in negativity, I have attempted to retain my ambitions for the human race.

I want to believe we are capable of harmony and equilibrium. I have to hope for peace yet brace for conflict, because catastrophe is now the surname of our foreign policy.

When you look at the cold-blooded facts and apply some empathy to the scenarios, I believe we will witness an escalation of war and violence that only a complete sociopath can stomach.

Tragically, our freedom of the press is more incarcerated than we are aware. When referenced to South American news sources, our press corps are smothered with censorship.

I wonder if all the jingoist flag-wavers out there would still be so adamant about bloodshed after 4 years of being exposed to mutilated corpses on their front pages.

It might not say it in the business section, but ignorance is a commodity. As long as all we see is a number and not a decapitated body, we can still live with the injustices we are inflicting upon an entity that isn’t us.

Our detachment from the horrifying reality is what will amplify these initial ripples into a tsunami that will envelop a culture that craves retribution upon the western soldiers and philosophies that were forced upon them.

I want you to visualize with me momentarily.

Close your eyes and this morning you will awaken with a heightened sense of alertness.

Your alarm clock this morning is a fury of Colt M4 Carbine fire even though you have grown desensitized to the sound.

You are accustomed to adrenaline.

You would go to work, but the market center was recently car bombed. You would visit your brother, but he was waiting in line at a gas station where a line of vehicles was mistaken for an insurgent convoy and obliterated via an airstrike.

You would go crazy, but your disdain for those who incite this chaos keeps you focused. You feel trapped, oppressed, frustrated, and angry. Your mind has already been made up for you. All you feel is hatred.

Now multiply this experience by 65,000. This is the modest estimate of civilian Iraqi deaths according to iraqbodycount.org. The death count has risen linearly.

Now market this image across the entire Arabian world. Iraq has polarized two different ethnic groups. This has left few mediators in the middle to resolve the differences between us. It is a culture clash between two separate ways of life.

Politicians in the Arabian world may bow to America due to their reliance on our economy, but populations will retain a very different view. This is why I am fearful of an escalation in violence and war. All the hope in the world can’t change facts.