“What must be said“, the short poem by Nobel Laureate Guenter Grass, does something few people in the mainstream Western world ever do: speak critically about the State of Israel.
Israel is a “threat to world peace”, writes Grass, whose poem highlights the hypocrisy of the West for condemning Iran’s search for nuclear power while simultaneously allowing Israel to proliferate it’s own nuclear capabilities. (more…)
(Warning! Graphic video.)
“Doc, save his life.” chuckled an American soldier, standing over the dead and dying bodies of (reportedly) Iraqi militants, “Got a band-aid?” Disgusting. Not a single trace of honor in their behavior, which, incidentally, is a clear violation of the Geneva convention.
Equally repugnant are the related comments posted on the video’s right-wing site Liveleak: “awesome…die terrorist” “i would rather see a bus full… still nice do.” “Go to your Allah, rat bastards.” Senseless, hate-filled vitriol. (more…)
Bloody and senseless are two ways to describe the ongoing civil war in Syria.
What good will come from this fighting and death? Not enough to make it okay.
How can they get out of this mess without even further violence? It seems both sides are locked into battle mode. More lives will be tragically lost before this conflict is resolved.
So what’s the lesson? (more…)
The world is improving faster than ever before, speeding us all towards a brighter future. Yet, for us to go from here to there, enough of us will have to abandon certain perspectives and internalize new ones. That being said, here’s 3 key scripts that need to be flipped: (more…)
Israel has been orchestrating targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists. Wow! There’s been rumors for some time, but now it’s confirmed by US officials, via NBC news.
Arming and training terrorist groups? For shame, Israel.
Last week, the US military drew a line, saying military support for Israel is most definitely conditional. Now, with this new leak, it appears the US may be throwing Israel under the bus.
Good! Not to hate on any non-extremist Israeli citizens, but the State of Israel has been committing egregious human rights violations for far too long. The sooner the international community drops support for the terror-sponsoring nation of Israel, the better our world will be.
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)
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.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 4-star General Martin Dempsey, let Israeli leaders know they will be without American support in a war against Iran, unless they wait for prior agreement from Washington.
Well, that’s probably a good thing, given how former Israeli Defense Forces Chief believes a military attack on Iran would culminate in all out war, engulfing the entire Middle East in conflict.
All the more reason to continue to pressure our governments to avoid another long, expensive and ineffectual invasion at all costs.
Still, one wonders if Israel’s interests have become too entrenched in the US’s political landscape when ranking members have to explicitly say ‘Look, Israel. We’re tight and all, but there’s only so much crazy we can tolerate, even from you.’
Do you remember what happened over the past ten years when more and more of us started to really regret the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The years kept rolling on, the cost and the death toll kept rising and we were left wondering ‘why wasn’t there more critical voices being heard in the lead up to the invasion?’ Mainstream journalists along with most politicians failed to ask whether or not a military endeavor was the best solution, and everyone else was left holding the bag.
Well, if you count yourself amongst the disgruntled, then take heed, because whatever forces made those wars happen are at it again. Except this time the target is Iran. You can see it everywhere, as stories about the Persian nation become more frequent, garnering an ever increasing slice of media coverage. The same thing happened prior to the Libyan invasion. It’s as if the social consciousness is being massaged and cajoled into accepting Iran as this imminent threat growing in severity for every moment we aren’t over there bombing the life out of them.
Don’t get me wrong – Iran is no joke. But so too are many other nations, and if the last ten years of failure have proven anything, its that we cannot hope to secure the world by direct force alone.
But we won’t even get the chance to find an alternative if we allow the pro-war side the inch they need to take their mile. So this time, let’s beat the drums of peace louder than those who are beating the drums of war. We can’t wait until our armed forces get stuck in another decades long quagmire and then bitch about it.
Maybe this time we think less in terms of us and them – Muslims/Christians, or North Americans/ Iranians– and instead take a 21st century mindset, where we recognize that 99% of the citizens of foreign nations are just like the 99% here and that Letting an army attack them would be hurting people no different than us. But, if we work together with them, and essentially unite the 99% of all nations, this global village would be in a far better place to hamper the %1 who’ve been hurting the rest of us.
We’ve tried weapons and war for too long and it has yet to help. Let’s find out if the power of love can work to heal our planet.
This week Adam Lowther shared a piece entitled ‘Five Reasons Not to Attack Iran‘, focusing on how unilateral invasion would be strategically difficult given the US’s exhausted military and Iran’s legitimate military and intelligence capabilities.
Lowther’s list leaves much to be desired, as the author seems convinced that engaging Iran would be more desirable were it easier to accomplish. That said, I’d like to offer up five more reasons not to go to war with Iran:
One – It Costs Too Much. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere have cost American taxpayers close to 1.3 trillion dollars. For a nation struggling with poverty and unemployment, this fortune could have helped out a lot of people back home.
On top of this, hundreds of thousands of lives were snuffed out, and millions more had to flee their homes. The costs, in terms of human suffering, are incalculable. All the more reason to avoid war with Iran for as long as other options exist.
Two – War Breeds Extremism. The chaos and disruption caused by prolonged conflict benefits no one more than violent, radical ideologues. Destabilizing Iran will only fuel more anti-Western sentiment, and this serves no one’s interests (except maybe for the Defense Industry itself).
Three – Iranians are Just Like Us. Underneath superficial differences, like culture, language and religion, the majority of Iranians are regular people. They share similar hopes, dreams and fears, and, just like us, most of them simply want to raise their families in a secure environment. Rather than bombing and killing Iranians, we can help by empowering their communities so that the Iranian people can eliminate extremism from within.
Four – It Doesn’t Work. There’s no proof that America is any safer now than 10 years ago. The populations of Iraq, Afghanistan (and the other US-bomb riddled nations) certainly are no better off. Unless you are a shareholder in a corporation that either profits from a lengthy armed conflict or gets to divvy up the conquered assets, then war has not and will not help you out at all.
Five – We Should be Done with War. We aren’t cavemen chucking spears anymore. It’s the 21st century. Engaging in armed conflict with Iran, like with all wars, would inevitably cause humankind to hurt itself. We are supposed to be an advanced species, so let’s start acting like one.
Don’t wait until our Armed Forces get stuck in another decades long quagmire with no practical exit strategy. Let your voice be heard right now. Say no to war with Iran!
