Every institution within The Beltway is highly politicized and, with no true oversight body, truly "a law unto themselves." That's the Supreme Court, The Pentagon/Pentagram, both houses of Congress, and any and all agencies associated with them. And it's all beyond the ken of the electorate, just too big, and little more than a distracti…
Every institution within The Beltway is highly politicized and, with no true oversight body, truly "a law unto themselves." That's the Supreme Court, The Pentagon/Pentagram, both houses of Congress, and any and all agencies associated with them. And it's all beyond the ken of the electorate, just too big, and little more than a distraction from the endless quest for peak experiences, compelling TV drama, and sports. Like climate change and mass shootings, it's all here to stay.
(Not that anyone else seems to have noticed, but today is the 53rd anniversary of the shootings at Kent State. No mention of it in the Washington Post. I expect it has finally been erased from the collective memory.)
Thanks for the reminder of Kent State. When I taught a course on U.S. History, I played CSN&Y's "Ohio" to my class of 30 students. Only a couple of my students had heard of Kent State and the murders there.
You are most welcome. I was 16, closing in on college but also The Draft, and the events of that day really hit home. If you didn't realize then that something was way wrong in the US, you never would.
Kent State happened seventeen months after i had returned from my second year in Vietnam, and i could only reflect that at least some Americans were finally getting a direct taste of what we had inflicted and were still inflicting on the People of Indochina.
The most important result of Kent State was ~ and still is ~ that it very efficiently and effectively killed the anti-war movement on the campuses and streets of America.
Your article doesn't explain exactly HOW the anti-war movement "forced the United States to sign a peace treaty, withdraw its remaining forces, and end the draft in early 1973." On what basis does it make that claim?
Nor does it explain why the "anti-war candidate" McGovern was totally blown away in the 1972 election, when the American people ~ for the first time since it started with the Lie about an "incident" in the Tonkin Gulf in 1964 ~ were actually given a choice about that War. Even after "The Pentagon Papers" revealing ALL the Lies about that War were released in 1971, the American people rejected ending the War on any but Washington's terms.
Or why the US continued to support its lackeys in Saigon up to the bitter end in 1975. Much like we supported the French in their bid to reclaim their colonial empire in Indochina up to the bitter end in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.
And we may have pulled the troops out of Cambodia, but we didn't stop the bombing, and thus helped pave the way for Pol Pot and his version of a Holocaust.
In sum, as far as the Peoples of Indochina were concerned, the American anti-war movement against America's War was a complete and total failure. Even if folks like the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict seem to think that it wasn't.
And there has not been even a token ~ let alone an effective ~ anti-War Movement in this nation since Kent State. At least not with regard to things like Ollie North's forays into Central America in the 80s, our participation in the dismembering of the former Yugoslavia in the 90s, and of course, America's "Forever War" in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and so forth since 9/11. To say nothing of Ukraine over the past 14 months.
Kent State didn't "kill" the antiwar movement. Nor did the antiwar movement stop the Vietnam War.
But the antiwar movement did contribute to a climate that made the war increasingly untenable for the establishment to sell. Meanwhile, the U.S. military was collapsing due to the unpopularity of the war and the unfairness of the draft, among other reasons.
The all-volunteer military was the solution to growing unrest and indiscipline; it also has made it easier since Vietnam to prosecute undeclared and unconstitutional wars, which was the intent of some of its founders.
Like i said: In sum, as far as the Peoples of Indochina were and are concerned, the American anti-war movement against America's War against them was a complete and total failure. Just like the American attempt to help France regain its colonial empire in Southeast Asia was a complete and total failure in the 40s and 50s.
What the Vietnamese term "The American War" ended when Saigon was "liberated" by NVA forces in 1975; and the American anti-war movement had absolutely nothing to do with that.
America's "anti-warriors" lost all interest in what had happened and was happening in Indochina once the Draft was terminated, and nobody had to worry about themselves or their fathers, sons, or husbands being the last American to get killed or maimed in it.
And whether or not the All-Volunteer Military made it easier for the US to wage its undeclared and unconstitutional wars, it hasn't made a lick of difference. The US still hasn't even come close to winning a war since the end of WW II, even if it is much. much easier to have them. Especially when American taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for any of its Wars paid for by the magic of Deficit Spending and increasing the National Debt.
As i have stated before: The purpose of America's wars is not to win them; whatever "win" actually means or ever meant. The purpose is simply to Have them; and lay the groundwork for another one someplace else down the road.
And at this, the A-VM has proven itself to be very successful in every possible way.
"The purpose is simply to have them" -- yes, there's much truth to that, Jeff.
Because war is a racket, because it's profitable, because it keeps people distracted and disempowered, and for many other reasons that you know too well.
Thinking about it further, Bill: If Kent State didn’t kill the American anti-war movement, then what did?
Because since Kent State, there has been virtually ZERO anti-war sentiment, activity, and action against any of the many Wars that America has started, waged, and ultimately lost.
There was virtually zero anti-war activity when we “liberated” Kuwait back in 1991 from our Boy in that part of the world, Saddam Hussein; thus enabling Bush the Elder to joyfully chortle “It’s a proud day for America. And, by God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all.”
There was even less after 9/11 and against America’s War of Revenge, Retaliation, and Retribution against the Land, Country, Nation, and People of Afghanistan.
And except for one weekend, there was literally zero anti-war action after War Criminal Colin Powell lied thru his teeth and out his ass to the UN, the world, and the American people about that same Saddam’s “WMDs,” and the “existential threat” they presented [as in Condi Rice’s “smoking gun that could be a mushroom cloud"], thus paving the way for Cheney/Bush the Lesser’s plan to “liberate” Iraq of him and them.
And since then, there has been absolutely nothing, except for the couple thousand of folks who bothered to show up in DC earlier this year to express their displeasure with the extension of America’s “Forever War” into Ukraine. Just like there was zero anti-war action in America’s earlier forays into Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Equatorial Africa, and so forth.
So in the 53 years and a day since what would now be officially defined as a “mass shooting” in a place called Kent, Ohio, there has been virtually ZERO anti-war sentiment ~ let alone actual, real, and effective action ~ by anybody in this nation against the biggest war mongering nation on the Planet, the United States of America.
So again: If Kent State didn’t kill the American anti-war movement, then what did?
Thank You, Bill. I hadn’t seen Your two articles, and look forward to reading them tonite.
In the meantime, permit me to offer to You and the BV community two very thought-provoking articles i came across today regarding: first, A Timeline of All of America’s Wars since 1776; and second, an analysis of the total and complete failures of America’s [and the entire Planet’s] Anti-War movements.
Below is a year-by-year timeline of America’s wars, which reveals something quite interesting: SINCE THE UNITED STATES WAS FOUNDED IN 1776, SHE HAS BEEN AT WAR DURING 229 OUT OF HER 246 CALENDAR YEARS OF EXISTENCE AS OF 2022. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE WERE ONLY 17 CALENDAR YEARS IN WHICH THE U.S. DID NOT WAGE ANY WARS.
Let’s put this in perspective
* Pick any year since 1776 and there is about a 93% chance that America was involved in some war during that calendar year.
* No U.S. president truly qualifies as a peacetime president. Instead, all U.S. presidents can technically be considered “war presidents.”
* The U.S. has never gone a decade without war.
* The only time the U.S. went five years without war (1935-40) was during the isolationist period of the Great Depression.
AMERICA’S WAR HISTORY: A YEAR-BY-YEAR TIMELINE OF MAJOR WARS
1776 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamagua Wars, Second Cherokee War, Pennamite-Yankee War
1777 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Second Cherokee War, Pennamite-Yankee War
1778 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1779 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1780 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1781 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1782 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1783 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1784 – Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War, Oconee War
1785 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War
1786 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War
…………….
2011 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen; Conflict in Libya (Libyan Civil War)
In most of these wars, the U.S. was on the offense. Some of the wars were “defensive”; however, this leaves out covert CIA operations and other acts which could be considered war.
2012 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen
2013 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen
2014 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2015 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2016 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2017 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2018 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2019 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2020 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2021 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2022 – War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
* 2. RAGE AGAINST THE WAR MACHINE: WHAT RAGE? ‘When Will They Ever Learn?’ by Robert J Burrowes / Global Research 032323
In his iconic 1950s anti-war hit song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” ~ performed here by Peter, Paul, and Mary ~ Pete Seeger posed the eternal question about war: ‘when will they ever learn?’ Of course, Seeger’s question was primarily directed at those individuals who choose to participate in the fighting. But it might equally have been directed at those in the ‘anti-war’ movement. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXNVA9ngx8 ]
A few years later in 1963, Native Canadian Buffy Sainte-Marie penned the equally iconic “Universal Soldier” to draw attention to ‘individual responsibility’ for war. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGWsGyNsw00 ]
The question ‘Why war?’ has troubled human beings for millennia and individuals of conscience have long resisted it, sometimes paying a heavy price for doing so. And back in 1932, two of humanity’s giants – Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud – grappled with the question, exchanging letters on the subject. [ https://www.transcend.org/tms/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Why-War-Freud.pdf ] …
… Four things fundamentally missing from all previous efforts to halt a particular war or to end war generally, however, are these:
* a serious effort to understand the dysfunctional psychology, and what causes it, that drives human violence generally,
* a serious effort to analyse war as a system of power: Who is causing it, why and how? (This is important because understanding how power works in the world system as well as who, precisely, is driving what is happening, why, and how they are doing it are crucial prerequisites for developing an effective strategy to resist, or end, war.)
* a sophisticated nonviolent strategy based on this understanding and analysis that is thoughtfully designed to address each of the foundational components of war, and
* sufficient courageous people committed to implementing this strategy by participating in it themselves and mobilizing others to do so too.
Consequently, to say that anti-war efforts lack sophistication is to put it mildly in the extreme. As the very long history of ‘anti-war’ struggle clearly demonstrates.
And so it was listening to the anti-war speeches delivered in Washington DC at the Rage Against the War Machine rally on 19 February 2023. You can watch whole or abridged versions of these speeches at:
Rage might give a person power in some contexts but, in itself, rage has zero strategic value. And are these people really feeling ‘rage’ about the ongoing war all over the planet or even the war in Ukraine? And acting on it? Of course not. Even if they were, as mentioned ‘rage’ is no substitute for acting powerfully (that is, strategically) to end war.
Moreover, there is a simple reason for this. Most anti-war activists do not feel rage against the war machine for the simple reason that they are terrified of it.
And this fear incapacitates them, leaving most anti-war activists too scared to seriously commit themselves to doing what is necessary to end war. Again, as the record demonstrates.
Hence, they complain powerlessly, rather than analysing, devising strategy and then acting powerfully knowing that their actions will contribute to the long-term struggle to end war once and for all.
So let me go back a step and analyze why the anti-war movement is so frightened and powerless and why it cannot learn from its own history of failure.
Every institution within The Beltway is highly politicized and, with no true oversight body, truly "a law unto themselves." That's the Supreme Court, The Pentagon/Pentagram, both houses of Congress, and any and all agencies associated with them. And it's all beyond the ken of the electorate, just too big, and little more than a distraction from the endless quest for peak experiences, compelling TV drama, and sports. Like climate change and mass shootings, it's all here to stay.
(Not that anyone else seems to have noticed, but today is the 53rd anniversary of the shootings at Kent State. No mention of it in the Washington Post. I expect it has finally been erased from the collective memory.)
Thanks for the reminder of Kent State. When I taught a course on U.S. History, I played CSN&Y's "Ohio" to my class of 30 students. Only a couple of my students had heard of Kent State and the murders there.
You are most welcome. I was 16, closing in on college but also The Draft, and the events of that day really hit home. If you didn't realize then that something was way wrong in the US, you never would.
Kent State happened seventeen months after i had returned from my second year in Vietnam, and i could only reflect that at least some Americans were finally getting a direct taste of what we had inflicted and were still inflicting on the People of Indochina.
The most important result of Kent State was ~ and still is ~ that it very efficiently and effectively killed the anti-war movement on the campuses and streets of America.
No, it didn't.
https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/us-anti-vietnam-war-movement-1964-1973/
Your article doesn't explain exactly HOW the anti-war movement "forced the United States to sign a peace treaty, withdraw its remaining forces, and end the draft in early 1973." On what basis does it make that claim?
Nor does it explain why the "anti-war candidate" McGovern was totally blown away in the 1972 election, when the American people ~ for the first time since it started with the Lie about an "incident" in the Tonkin Gulf in 1964 ~ were actually given a choice about that War. Even after "The Pentagon Papers" revealing ALL the Lies about that War were released in 1971, the American people rejected ending the War on any but Washington's terms.
Or why the US continued to support its lackeys in Saigon up to the bitter end in 1975. Much like we supported the French in their bid to reclaim their colonial empire in Indochina up to the bitter end in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.
And we may have pulled the troops out of Cambodia, but we didn't stop the bombing, and thus helped pave the way for Pol Pot and his version of a Holocaust.
In sum, as far as the Peoples of Indochina were concerned, the American anti-war movement against America's War was a complete and total failure. Even if folks like the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict seem to think that it wasn't.
And there has not been even a token ~ let alone an effective ~ anti-War Movement in this nation since Kent State. At least not with regard to things like Ollie North's forays into Central America in the 80s, our participation in the dismembering of the former Yugoslavia in the 90s, and of course, America's "Forever War" in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and so forth since 9/11. To say nothing of Ukraine over the past 14 months.
Kent State didn't "kill" the antiwar movement. Nor did the antiwar movement stop the Vietnam War.
But the antiwar movement did contribute to a climate that made the war increasingly untenable for the establishment to sell. Meanwhile, the U.S. military was collapsing due to the unpopularity of the war and the unfairness of the draft, among other reasons.
The all-volunteer military was the solution to growing unrest and indiscipline; it also has made it easier since Vietnam to prosecute undeclared and unconstitutional wars, which was the intent of some of its founders.
Like i said: In sum, as far as the Peoples of Indochina were and are concerned, the American anti-war movement against America's War against them was a complete and total failure. Just like the American attempt to help France regain its colonial empire in Southeast Asia was a complete and total failure in the 40s and 50s.
What the Vietnamese term "The American War" ended when Saigon was "liberated" by NVA forces in 1975; and the American anti-war movement had absolutely nothing to do with that.
America's "anti-warriors" lost all interest in what had happened and was happening in Indochina once the Draft was terminated, and nobody had to worry about themselves or their fathers, sons, or husbands being the last American to get killed or maimed in it.
And whether or not the All-Volunteer Military made it easier for the US to wage its undeclared and unconstitutional wars, it hasn't made a lick of difference. The US still hasn't even come close to winning a war since the end of WW II, even if it is much. much easier to have them. Especially when American taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for any of its Wars paid for by the magic of Deficit Spending and increasing the National Debt.
As i have stated before: The purpose of America's wars is not to win them; whatever "win" actually means or ever meant. The purpose is simply to Have them; and lay the groundwork for another one someplace else down the road.
And at this, the A-VM has proven itself to be very successful in every possible way.
"The purpose is simply to have them" -- yes, there's much truth to that, Jeff.
Because war is a racket, because it's profitable, because it keeps people distracted and disempowered, and for many other reasons that you know too well.
Thinking about it further, Bill: If Kent State didn’t kill the American anti-war movement, then what did?
Because since Kent State, there has been virtually ZERO anti-war sentiment, activity, and action against any of the many Wars that America has started, waged, and ultimately lost.
There was virtually zero anti-war activity when we “liberated” Kuwait back in 1991 from our Boy in that part of the world, Saddam Hussein; thus enabling Bush the Elder to joyfully chortle “It’s a proud day for America. And, by God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all.”
There was even less after 9/11 and against America’s War of Revenge, Retaliation, and Retribution against the Land, Country, Nation, and People of Afghanistan.
And except for one weekend, there was literally zero anti-war action after War Criminal Colin Powell lied thru his teeth and out his ass to the UN, the world, and the American people about that same Saddam’s “WMDs,” and the “existential threat” they presented [as in Condi Rice’s “smoking gun that could be a mushroom cloud"], thus paving the way for Cheney/Bush the Lesser’s plan to “liberate” Iraq of him and them.
And since then, there has been absolutely nothing, except for the couple thousand of folks who bothered to show up in DC earlier this year to express their displeasure with the extension of America’s “Forever War” into Ukraine. Just like there was zero anti-war action in America’s earlier forays into Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Equatorial Africa, and so forth.
So in the 53 years and a day since what would now be officially defined as a “mass shooting” in a place called Kent, Ohio, there has been virtually ZERO anti-war sentiment ~ let alone actual, real, and effective action ~ by anybody in this nation against the biggest war mongering nation on the Planet, the United States of America.
So again: If Kent State didn’t kill the American anti-war movement, then what did?
You may recall, Jeff, I've written about this a couple of times: https://bracingviews.com/2022/12/03/wheres-the-antiwar-movement/
https://bracingviews.com/2016/02/03/wheres-the-anti-war-movement/
What I said won't surprise you
Thank You, Bill. I hadn’t seen Your two articles, and look forward to reading them tonite.
In the meantime, permit me to offer to You and the BV community two very thought-provoking articles i came across today regarding: first, A Timeline of All of America’s Wars since 1776; and second, an analysis of the total and complete failures of America’s [and the entire Planet’s] Anti-War movements.
* 1. AMERICA’S WAR HISTORY: HOW MANY YEARS HAS THE U.S. BEEN AT WAR? by Washington's Blog 122221 https://washingtonsblog.com/how-many-years-has-the-u-s-been-at-war/ [EMPHASIS added.]
Below is a year-by-year timeline of America’s wars, which reveals something quite interesting: SINCE THE UNITED STATES WAS FOUNDED IN 1776, SHE HAS BEEN AT WAR DURING 229 OUT OF HER 246 CALENDAR YEARS OF EXISTENCE AS OF 2022. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE WERE ONLY 17 CALENDAR YEARS IN WHICH THE U.S. DID NOT WAGE ANY WARS.
Let’s put this in perspective
* Pick any year since 1776 and there is about a 93% chance that America was involved in some war during that calendar year.
* No U.S. president truly qualifies as a peacetime president. Instead, all U.S. presidents can technically be considered “war presidents.”
* The U.S. has never gone a decade without war.
* The only time the U.S. went five years without war (1935-40) was during the isolationist period of the Great Depression.
AMERICA’S WAR HISTORY: A YEAR-BY-YEAR TIMELINE OF MAJOR WARS
1776 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamagua Wars, Second Cherokee War, Pennamite-Yankee War
1777 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Second Cherokee War, Pennamite-Yankee War
1778 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1779 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1780 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1781 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1782 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1783 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War
1784 – Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War, Oconee War
1785 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War
1786 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War
…………….
2011 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen; Conflict in Libya (Libyan Civil War)
In most of these wars, the U.S. was on the offense. Some of the wars were “defensive”; however, this leaves out covert CIA operations and other acts which could be considered war.
2012 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen
2013 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen
2014 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2015 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2016 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2017 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2018 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2019 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2020 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2021 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
2022 – War on Terror in Somalia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; Civil War in Ukraine
* 2. RAGE AGAINST THE WAR MACHINE: WHAT RAGE? ‘When Will They Ever Learn?’ by Robert J Burrowes / Global Research 032323
In his iconic 1950s anti-war hit song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” ~ performed here by Peter, Paul, and Mary ~ Pete Seeger posed the eternal question about war: ‘when will they ever learn?’ Of course, Seeger’s question was primarily directed at those individuals who choose to participate in the fighting. But it might equally have been directed at those in the ‘anti-war’ movement. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXNVA9ngx8 ]
A few years later in 1963, Native Canadian Buffy Sainte-Marie penned the equally iconic “Universal Soldier” to draw attention to ‘individual responsibility’ for war. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGWsGyNsw00 ]
The question ‘Why war?’ has troubled human beings for millennia and individuals of conscience have long resisted it, sometimes paying a heavy price for doing so. And back in 1932, two of humanity’s giants – Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud – grappled with the question, exchanging letters on the subject. [ https://www.transcend.org/tms/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Why-War-Freud.pdf ] …
… Four things fundamentally missing from all previous efforts to halt a particular war or to end war generally, however, are these:
* a serious effort to understand the dysfunctional psychology, and what causes it, that drives human violence generally,
* a serious effort to analyse war as a system of power: Who is causing it, why and how? (This is important because understanding how power works in the world system as well as who, precisely, is driving what is happening, why, and how they are doing it are crucial prerequisites for developing an effective strategy to resist, or end, war.)
* a sophisticated nonviolent strategy based on this understanding and analysis that is thoughtfully designed to address each of the foundational components of war, and
* sufficient courageous people committed to implementing this strategy by participating in it themselves and mobilizing others to do so too.
Consequently, to say that anti-war efforts lack sophistication is to put it mildly in the extreme. As the very long history of ‘anti-war’ struggle clearly demonstrates.
And so it was listening to the anti-war speeches delivered in Washington DC at the Rage Against the War Machine rally on 19 February 2023. You can watch whole or abridged versions of these speeches at:
https://odysee.com/@PeoplesParty:e?view=home .
Rage might give a person power in some contexts but, in itself, rage has zero strategic value. And are these people really feeling ‘rage’ about the ongoing war all over the planet or even the war in Ukraine? And acting on it? Of course not. Even if they were, as mentioned ‘rage’ is no substitute for acting powerfully (that is, strategically) to end war.
Moreover, there is a simple reason for this. Most anti-war activists do not feel rage against the war machine for the simple reason that they are terrified of it.
And this fear incapacitates them, leaving most anti-war activists too scared to seriously commit themselves to doing what is necessary to end war. Again, as the record demonstrates.
Hence, they complain powerlessly, rather than analysing, devising strategy and then acting powerfully knowing that their actions will contribute to the long-term struggle to end war once and for all.
So let me go back a step and analyze why the anti-war movement is so frightened and powerless and why it cannot learn from its own history of failure.
Continued at https://www.globalresearch.ca/rage-against-war-machine-what-rage-when-will-they-ever-learn/5813105