War is hell

War is hell, as many people who have been in wars and witnessed its horrors have concluded. That includes General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820 – 1891) of the US civil war Union army who wrote “War is cruelty and you cannot refine it.”

But people don’t seem to get it. Those who start wars are never the victims of wars. The leaders start wars and ordinary people pay with blood and treasure. However there are people who stand up to the war mongers; they are specially targeted by the war mongers for their opposition to war and the futility of war.

What puzzles me is this: why is it that people don’t get the bloody scam that is perpetrated against them by the war mongers? It isn’t as if there have been no senseless wars and as if there haven’t been people warning against them since antiquity. Here are a few examples. First up, US President Dwight Eisenhower. The wiki says:

“… the final public speech of Dwight D. Eisenhower as the 34th President of the United States, delivered in a television broadcast on January 17, 1961. Perhaps best known for advocating that the nation guard against the potential influence of the military–industrial complex, a term he is credited with coining …”

The military-industrial complex–primarily of the US, Russia, and now China–drives all the wars around the world. The world is in perpetual war. There are leaders who are against wars but they don’t get power. Consider Ron Paul (b. 1935), the Libertarian politician.

The US government (whether Democrat or Republican) is arguably the biggest war monger in the world, and most of the leaders of the US post the Second World War have been to some degree or the other war criminals. But being the victors, they are never brought to justice. Prime example: Kissinger. Christopher Hitchens proved that Kissinger was a war criminal.

The peace mongers are targeted by the US government. Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning — for example. Here’s Assange:

The media is complicit in the disasters around the world. And those who speak up against the war machine, like Julian Assange, are targeted for their temerity in challenging the evil war mongers and their proxies. How dare they!

A few in the media do push back; those that do are singled out for punishment, as the EU is doing to Tucker Carlson.

JUST IN: The European Union is considering imposing a travel ban against Tucker Carlson for interviewing Putin.

EU lawmakers are now furious that a journalist flew to Russia to do journalism.

They now want to slap Tucker with sanctions for “assisting” Putin.

“Putin is a war… pic.twitter.com/jUjEody4vp

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 7, 2024

Glenn Greenwald in a recent tweet pointed out that the journalists are not doing their job as watchdogs of the rich and powerful. Instead, the media have been handmaidens of the war mongers. (Hat tip: Akshar.)

Elon Musk expresses his criticism of American journalists covering Zelensky – in a response to Glenn Greenwald pic.twitter.com/fodrozGkQR

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) February 7, 2024

We must note in passing that Elon Musk had a wicked sense of humor. Agreed the form is often sophomoric but let’s admit that it is devastating in its effect.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Image at the top of the post: An American soldier wears a hand lettered “War Is Hell” slogan on his helmet, Vietnam, 1965

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