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See Switzerland (normally very law-abiding).

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Switzerland is comprised of local cantons that refused to bow to the ambitions of European despots that soon discovered Swiss marksmanship could be formidable (remember William Tell). The situation in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the other hand, may always have a greater element of chaos than Switzerland because Iraq is a mix of cultures that were artificially combined by the Great Powers of Europe when the Ottoman Empire was divided after World War I.

Every indication is that the Sunni governments in the surrounding Arab nations are starting to accept that Iraq will be governed in a manner that departs from the Sunni despotism that has prevailed for centuries in most of the Middle East. Part of the reason for the change of heart resulted from a hard won recognition that Al Qaeda is the enemy of humanity, including but not limited to Christians, Jews, Sunni and Shia.

Some people insist that President Bush made Al Qaeda bigger and deadlier by invading Iraq. Historians can and will argue for years as to whether Iraq was a threat when we invaded. The consequences of any policy will always have ramifications that go far beyond the human ability to anticipate. The fact is that the people of Iraq are committed to the government that they have achieved and critics that sit at home in the safety of the USA complaining that the Iraqis have not accomplished enough quickly enough are suffering from unrealistic expectations.

The way that all this relates to Switzerland is because of the contrast between the peaceful way of life there and the experience of people in the Middle East.

Life as we know it in North America may continue to unfold peacefully, progressively and prosperously. That is our sincere wish for the coming years. But life provides no guarantees. The benefits of liberty belong to those that are vigilant. Thank God, we do do not live in a country always on the verge of sectarian violence. I also appreciate the fact that we can disagree on political and cultural issues and do so aggressively without resorting to bloodshed. We don’t need a political leader to unite us because the American people know how to agree and disagree intelligently.

On the other hand, the Sindh province of Pakistan (the home of the Bhutto family) is an example of an ethnic group ready to break away from the rest of Pakistan because they distrust the Punjabs.

Sindh is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis. Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh, including Urdu-speaking people and others who migrated from India at the time of and after independence and partition.

The Punjabis have controlled much of the government and military in Pakistan for some time- they even control the water. The farmers in Sindh province have seen their farms dry up due to Punjabi diversion of rivers that flow between the two provinces.

Last year, the carcasses of thousands of vehicles smoldered for a long distance alongside the highways after Bhutto’s Sindhi followers and others expressed their fury when she was assassinated. Now her husband leads the country which seems to be headed for another crisis after violence in Mumbai allegedly planned by elements within Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.

U.S. foreign policy under the new Obama administration will profoundly shape our relationship with countries such as Pakistan and Idia, inexorably impacting national destinies in ways that cannot be anticipated.

These are all developments that demonstrate to thinking men and women the wisdom of our forefathers. The men that drafted the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights anticipated situations like the world situation today. The Second Amendment is not premised on the concept that you and I will stand with our deer rifles against professional armies (like the vast armies of China). Nor is it realistic (or legal) to march through our neighborhoods looking for enemies. The premise is that we, the citizens at-large, can choose to become familiar with and own small arms that have military usefulness.

We are guarding the life of the Republic when we worship, when we vote, shop and conduct business, when we go to work and target practice and when we teach our children to hunt. All of these activities are expressions of God-given freedom that the Founders articulated in the United States Constitution, including our freedom to express ourselves and our freedom to become informed about governmental matters.