Americans must become very vocal about letting our national leaders get this nation into another war.
The President and all U.S. Congressional members must keep in mind that wars are very wasteful of the very same resources which civilian commerce makes use of when conducting local business. In my mind’s memory are visions of thousands of WWII warplanes parked in an Arizona field where they were being scrapped to recover the aluminum metal for other commercial uses.
Human lives are lost during wars along with much material support. The number of military combatants is well documented. The number of civilians who lost their lives as collateral KIA’s is never well established.
Last Thursday (01.02.2020), President Trump authorized the assassination of Iranian Major General Qassim Soleimani, who had been instrumental in resisting American military forces. Allegedly, this one Iranian leader had been a very effective combat resistance leader who was responsible for some 700 American KIA’s.
His assassination incited Iranian people to honor him as a martyr and a hero in Iran. This particular Major General had openly advocated asking American military units to go back home to America.
With his rhetoric President Donald Trump has brought us to the brink of war with Iran. Such a war would destabilize the Middle East for decades to come. It would unleash mass-scale human suffering on Iran’s 80+ million civilian population.
And Trump did this to distract us from his impeachment in the House, and a pending trial in the Senate. We must take to the streets and make our LOUD opposition very public.
The #NoWarWithIran movement has shown this opposition, with planned protests around the country. On their website, nowarwithiran.org, they stated:
“Let’s show all others that we have learned our lessons from Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and global endless war. We will not be driven by lies into another war. We will not allow our Iranian American and Muslim neighbors to become targeted by law enforcement. We will not be divided.”
Let’s begin to use diplomacy and negotiations first. Let’s empower those communities which lack expertise and resources by assisting these same communities to develop their own essential capabilities.
Wars are very wasteful of material resources and intangible lives.
Diplomacy and negotiations may be slower; however, no resources are destroyed nor lives lost.
Finally, let’s ensure that those who did the work to use diplomacy and negotiations are thanked for their productive efforts.
Can you imagine a future without wars because all of us have learned to first use diplomacy and negotiations? Is it possible that we may achieve world peace through diplomacy and negotiations? I suggest we try using diplomacy and negotiations first to ensure that wars diminish. It’s worth trying.
An observation about the application of sanctions which impact people. It would be much more effective to freeze the personal assets of national leadership who continue to have access to resources when sanctions are imposed. Would it not be much more effective to do things which will directly reach the leaders who make decisions being opposed?
Another aspect of direct negotiations is that very essential national needs may be identified and defined. This may lead to programs which mitigate these issues thereby diminishing the use of warfare to resolve those shortages of access to resources needed.
The American use of foreign policy to encourage regime changes needs to become very transparent in order to bring into common knowledge who benefits and who is supportive. Too often corporate special interests which are profit oriented do not serve the long-term service needs of the indigent populations being affected. This approach invariably leads to internal civil strife.
One only must become analytically informed about the colonial exploitive practices of the recent past. That approach must be modified to allow for local development of self-governance and development. A good beginning includes the development of educational facilities which includes both men and women.
Future developments which improve local domestic issues are usually better identified by women than by men leaders. It is always productive to include the perspective of women who are quite often more in tune with the humane issues extant today.
The most productive processes include direct impute from those involved. Invariably communication systems which allow input from the local populations must be sought, encouraged, and developed. White Leaders are simply often not in touch with the issues being coped with by persons of color. Indirect evidence is directly visible when one examines the gender make-up of governing boards and elected officials.
The resolution of many issues would be facilitated by the inclusion in governing boards of those who are being impacted and exploited. That will happen when communications are established which include direct diplomacy and negotiations. This includes stopping wars through direct action.
Then it may be possible to effectively address other issues facing humanity such as global warming. As the world’s population increases, people need to become informed enough to make necessary adjustments to their lives and speak out on issues facing them when the opportunity exists. All of this requires diplomacy and negotiations.
