Posts Tagged ‘invasion’

Watch Out! War Rhetoric Ahead

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

To keep Iran from becoming another of the West’s disastrously failed military endeavors, like Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, it is imperative that we beat the drumbeats of peace louder than the drumbeats of war.

This is easy to say, but harder to do, especially if we don’t recognize pro-war propaganda when we see it. To help illuminate us, consider the following headlines that came out this week urging Americans (and the world) to wage war with Iran. (image credits to Glenn Greenwald)

The Guardian, today:

 

Wall Street Journal, today:

 

Wired, Wednesday:

 

Washington Post, Wednesday:

Notice the theme? Iran is the world’s worst country, by far, creating a threat that grows in severity for every instant we delay full-scale armed invasion.

These are the drumbeats of war, readying the public for what they want us to believe is inevitable. Yet war with Iran can be avoided, especially if the pro-peace side is able to mount the pressure needed to rival those forces driving us to war.

Sure, we are up against the multi-billion dollar industries which profit off of prolonged bloodshed. But when we number in the tens of millions, a handful of businesses – no matter how powerful they seem – will be no match for the strength of our solidarity.

*** UPDATE **

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) did an analysis of ABC World News Tonight’s disgustingly biased piece on Iran, saying “At a time of heightened tension, journalists should act to question official rhetoric–not generate propaganda.”

Afghan Invasion a Failure – Secret Military Report

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

It’s been more than 11 long, bloody years, since the military industrial complex waged a so-called ‘war on terror’ in the Middle East. Yet, according to a classified document from the US Military, the Taliban and their Pakistani backers remain ‘poised to retake Afghanistan’ as soon as foreign troops withdraw.

Well, this is to be expected, given the US’s track record of failed military endeavors. In Iraq, death tolls have been rising dramatically since American troops pulled out, sparking concerns about a resurgence by Al Qaeda. As for Libya, a UN report confirms two terrorist networks were significantly bolstered by the US-led bombing campaign.

For the sake of every life senselessly cut short, and for all of the precious treasure we’ve squandered, let us at least learn something from this: wars do not create peace and democracies cannot be built with bullets.

Unless we just want to keep lining the pockets of war-profiteers while reinforcing anti-West sentiment amongst radicals, we’d do well to retire the failed formula of a predominantly militarized approach.

Instead, we could look to methods that might actually work, like building up impoverished communities around the world so that they themselves can tackle the problem of extremism from within.

Makes sense, right? Goes to show what could happen if someone other than the gun-toting looneys gets to call the shots.