War and Peace

The Ghost of Chamberlain

Of course the proximate issue is whether the prospective deal with Iran is 'another Munich'.

Now I'll leave aside some minor contemporary details like the fact that as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Iran is perfectly within its rights to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes in any way they see fit, and that Ayatollah Khameini "has also issued a fatwa saying the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons is forbidden under Islam.", and that Pakistan (Sunni) is a non-participant that openly has nuclear weapons and Israel (another non-participant) almost certainly has them but will not admit it, or that Saudi Arabia (participant) has stated that they will purchase them if they deem it desirable.

Let us think instead about Munich.

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Army discharge policy: Changing while remaining the same

This past Friday the US Army suspended the direct discharge of soldiers on account of being transgender. Any such cases must henceforth be reviewed by the Assistant Secretary of the Army.

Today’s action by the Army helps over 6,000 transgender soldiers serving in silence.
While transgender service members welcome this step, they recognize it is only a stopgap measure aimed at making a failing policy fail less. What they and their commanders need is a comprehensive, Department-level policy review.

--Allyson Robinson, a former Army captain and SPARTA Director of Policy

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The Breakfast Club (Dancing in September)

The Breakfast Club (Dancing in September)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We're a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we're not too hungover  we've been bailed out we're not too exhausted from last night's (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it's PhilJD's fault.

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Will Malaysia Cause the Truth to Come Out about Flight MH17?

Remember the downing of the Malaysia Boeing 777 jet MH17 over Ukraine? I can understand those that don't, alot of shit has happened since July 17th.

It was obvious from the start that it wasn't the separatists that shot it down. All you had to do was listen to Obama and Kerry and reverse their lies, not to mention the entire ruling class/state media. .

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Propaganda Alert, Mainstream Corporate Media - ISIS. BEWARE!!

Just take a look at the mainstream corporate media and how it's reporting about ISIS. Just take a look at who is saying we should go after ISIS. People like John McCain, John Bolton, Rick Perry, Bill Kristol and the neocons, Fox News. The mainstream corporate media lies and the neocons are NOT humanitarians! It's not like Obama and his brand of imperialists are humanitarians either but people should know for damn sure that the neocons don't have any interest in saving people's lives. Does that not tell you something?!!!

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Peace and the Antiwar Movement

Peace on Earth. How many times has that been said. We want peace on earth. Ya, most people do. More than most, probably a "vast" majority. But make no mistake, there are plenty of humans who don't want peace for various reasons, or believe that peace is unattainable, that it's just the way it is. So you know, it's not unanimous.

Many on the left and right/libertarians have complained over the last decade about the lack of an antiwar movement. The last significant protest movement against war was in 2002/2003 with the Iraq war. Many organizations and groups were created during the Bush wars but then came Obama. His rhetoric and promises (lies) and the fact that he was black and a democrat seemingly pacified an already weakening antiwar movement

In my opinion we need one now in a big way, and quick.

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Peace and the Antiwar Movement

Peace on Earth. How many times has that been said. We want peace on earth. Ya, most people do. More than most, probably a "vast" majority. But make no mistake, there are plenty of humans who don't want peace for various reasons, or believe that peace is unattainable, that it's just the way it is. So you know, it's not unanimous.

Many on the left and right/libertarians have complained over the last decade about the lack of an antiwar movement. The last significant protest movement against war was in 2002/2003 with the Iraq war. Many organizations and groups were created during the Bush wars but then came Obama. His rhetoric and promises (lies) and the fact that he was black and a democrat seemingly pacified an already weakening antiwar movement
In my opinion we need one now in a big way, and quick.

Take a look at the last 12 years with the wars, regime changes, new laws, acts, and organizations created to "keep us safe", the pivot to Asia and now the confrontation with Russia. As many are saying over the internet, this appears to be the most dangerous time for the planet since the Cuban missle crisis. With the threat of a first strike nuclear war, that's about as dangerous as it gets.

Even ignoring that threat, the advent of another full blown Cold War between Russia/China and the U.S. is the last thing we serfs need now. Here we are watching the ruling class light their cigars with trillion dollar bills while we fight each other over food stamps and minimum wage jobs. The last thing we need is more war and more militarism. As they say in the hood, 'homey don't need that bro.'

In other words, they need to be fucking stopped NOW, i.e, before it's the proverbial too late. They aren't going to stop their games, their quest for world domination. They aren't going to suddenly come to their senses and reach sensible diplomatic agreements to end imperialism and war and militarism. That is simply not going to happen unless somehow we the people can make them.

There was a major effort after WWI to abolish war for good. It ended in the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, an international agreement where countries "promised" not to use war to resolve their disputes. Obviously that didn't work and the key thing to remember here is it happened AFTER WWI. AFTER 16 million people died because of sociopathic and psychopathic government rulers and their backers. That's why the world wanted war banned back then, that's why they at least created that Pact. People were horrified at what had happened during WWI. Little did they (some, not all) know that the promises were just lies.

We know.

Then came the Geneva Conventions after WWII and the United Nation Charter, both outlining the parameters for war and imperialism. Obvioiusly this hasn't stopped them either.

One thing I've concluded is we are going to need a massive number of people behind whatever we do to stop war and militarism, i.e. to achieve Peace on Earth. With how ingrained militarism is in our societies and how infected the planet is with weapons, it's going to take a global effort that ends in not just a Pact or more laws but a paradigm shift in how societies on the planet operate, are governed, and how they interact.

I went searching for people and organizations that want Peace also. I started with lists of all the antiwar, peace, anti-nuke, anti-imperialism, etc., organizations, actions and activities to find out who's doing what, where and how. What I found was interesting. I've known about some of these organizations and people but hadn't delved very deeply into who they are and what they do.

I found an international list on Wikipedia and another good list, overlapping with the Wikipedia list, on WorldBeyondWar, a fairly new and ambitious organization with an international mission. There are certainly hundreds of such organizations, blogs, etc., worldwide and perhaps thousands more with affiliated missions such as climate change that could be part of a global effort.

Some of the antiwar and peace organizations I reviewed were long time organizations going back to the 1950's, with roots in anti nuclear weapon activism. Many organizations have Boards of Directors and paid staffs with some overlapping each other with the same Board members. There seems to be a sort of Peace "establishment" of sorts, including celebrities from the internet media such as Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, Jeremy Scahill, Juan Cole, etc. who attend the same conferences and other events, some annually. Most of the conferences, activities and events end up taking place on the East Coast because alot of these people and organzations are tied into the pulse of the D.C. political establishment and it accoutrements.

Why is it that the more antiwar/peace organizations we have, the more war and less peace we have?

Here's what I'd ask some of them, particularly the ones with Boards of Directors and paid staff, and the ones that go from one conference to another, raising money along the way to support their activities. Are you really interested in Peace? Or are you more interested in continuing what you're doing? Hey, I'm just asking.

What happened to the antiwar movement? It's been splintered by the internet and capitalism.

This is the same old thing, going round and round, mostly preaching to the choir without the real outreach that's needed, giving more people a voice. That should be the goal. The people want peace, that's a given. They're out there. The goal should be to give them a voice and present that voice along with all our other voices as one. It can be their names and phone numbers, but they need to be counted. The mission should be to work together to make that happen.

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Beware of Human Rights Watch Propaganda

Here's a good two part article from New Eastern Outlook regarding the role Human Rights Watch (HRW) plays in creating and emphasizing the narratives of western imperialists. This is not new, it;s been well known in the alternative blogosphere that HRW was part of the Empire, the establishment. It exists to obscure the reality of war zones serving as an intermediary to the facts on the ground and the public while serving the Empire. Recently in particular regarding what is happening in Ukraine, Venezuela, Libya, and Syria.;

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Flight MH17 and Obama

Investigative reporter Eric Zuesse has analyzed available information concerning the crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine and has come to what he says is a definitive conclusion that the plane was brought down by an attack by Ukraine military fighter jets. He's published a good number of articles since the incident.

I can't argue with his conclusion based on available information. I certainly don't believe the non-evidence, i.e., lies, provided by my own government. Again.

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