It seems these days that anyone protesting the war in Ukraine or Gaza is challenged with pushback from governments, various security forces and those in power that for some insane reason feel that conflicts, which are killing many thousands of people. are something we should all accept. Politicians, academics and media people are discouraged from questioning these wars. When they do the result can be troubling as they are discredited, branded as unpatriotic and, in some cases, fired from their jobs.
It is hard to believe that we are living in 2024 and that our governments are supporting and participating in war. People, children, women and the elderly are being killed. Cities are being destroyed along with infrastructure that will take years to rebuild.
The Middle East seems to be our western governments’ favourite hunting grounds as the mostly Islamic cultures from this area have been demonized and considered less than human, even barbaric. This happened during the Vietnam War. This kind of propaganda makes it easier to promote, finance and wage wars in that region. Why do we put up with it?
Right now, the Israeli military offensive in Gaza and Lebanon is out of control. Recently, the Lebanese have had to deal with a first in terroristic measures with mini bombs being activated in pagers and walkie talkies. Former CIA Director and US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has publicly stated this kind of action is a form of terrorism. His remark makes you think about the safety of any device in public, when he stated, “This has gone right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: What the hell is next?” Imagine your cellphone turning into a mini bomb and exploding in your hands or pocket. That is terrifying.
The war in Ukraine is also out of control. Evidence points to the fact that the Russians, although guilty of invading the country, are being fought in a proxy war by the US and even peaceful Canada. War does not need to happen ever, but there are warmongers and those who want to simply get rid of other cultures and competition. There’s a lot of money made on war and there are plenty of private companies that are profiting from the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. Why are we not standing up to this?
There’s also the fear that either one of these conflicts could escalate into a nuclear exchange and that would threaten the entire world. We would no longer be watching distant populations die on TV or social media in the safety of our cozy homes. A nuclear war would come right to our doorstep and threaten our families and entire way of life. The best academic minds and many security and military people are warning us about how serious this situation is and reminding us that there will be no winner in a nuclear war.
I am no expert on war, but I’ve been researching the First and Second World Wars because my family and my partner’s family were severely affected over generations in losing relatives in both conflicts. The facts that we have unearthed on the rationale for these wars has terrorized us.
Why we choose to spend money on war? Most leaders would rather spend billions on dealing with global problems with a military solution. What would happen if we instead chose to spend billions on peaceful solutions? If we pay for war, we will get war, but so far no one seems to want to spend much money on peace. However we choose to spend our money, we will get what we pay for.
These wars must end through negotiation so that we can choose different paths. We need to make our voices heard and cut through the propaganda that tries to convince people that war makes sense.
If we don’t do this, we will pay with our own pain and suffering as these wars could end up tearing apart our society and the lives of everyone we know. We won’t be sitting back watching the horrors of war from a distance, we will be dealing with it in our own backyard. It is time to raise our voices against war.