Tough time for all...
Yes, the raising kids aspect of this equation makes this "laughable situation" less humorous. The "pay me now or later" means my son's generation re: Iraqistan... The last major spasm in the 30's/40's led to a lot of knee jerk lines being drawn. Many complex geopolitical decisions were set up with a few strokes of mighty (shortsighted) pens. I remember ducking under my desk in bomb drills in grade school. I learned Russian and offered my service to "fight the evil communists". And now, that wonderful chapter of world history is (hopefully) closed and we are facing the "void" left by the collapse of the other superpower...
Human beings continue to reproduce at unsustainable rates. Resources are still finite. More people have less... It is a formula for continued strife. Throw in the mythos and ethos factors and a few bi-products of the industrial revolution like the concept of "mass" destruction and weapons that can attain them. You've added two or three more stories atop the house of cards.
I don't believe that Iraq will be the strong wind that brings it crashing down. As always, I could be wrong.
