On war and peace... and the lie of peace... since 1945

So I was thinking about it the last word war was WW II. That ended in 1945.

So here are the conflicts that have personally affected me (in more than just read about it in a book)

The first was actually WW II. No I was not alive during the whole mess, but my dad is a survivor of the Hitler Travel plan. No, he wasn't in a camp, but a Polish Family was the reason for their survival. Recently his school friend was given the recognition for that by Yad Vashem. Yes, it took cajones to do that. And he didn't live long enough to receive it. RIP my friend. (Yes I met him when we visited Poland with Dad)

Well his survival had a special effect on us kids, read on children of the holocaust... of course I could write the same about children of survivors of any war, but it is its own hell in a way.

I also knew one of the medics for the Escuadron 201... the unit that actually fought in the South Pacific from the Mexican Air Force during WW II. One that if any of you know about, I will be pleasantly surprised. He was one at the Veterans at the Red Cross and he told me the stories from Rabaul and other places... since I was nice enough to listen. He understood why, see dad.

The next to directly affecting me was actually Central America. As a young medic I had to the pleasure of helping in the debriefing of some refugees (how many to the grave I shall take) and their funneling to points unknown around the world Their stories still hunt me. I was 19 when I debriefed my first refugee, barely older than some of them... and far luckier. That experience changed me forever.

Of course the I\P matter has haunted me, and one of my partners who was Palestinian. Over the course of two years we went from hating each other's guts, because we were on both sides of the divide, (we were righting it stupidly ok, like people do here regularly) to actually seeing it other as human, I know a shocker, and I actually miss Ahmed, a good friend... we decided that if they wanted to kill each other we didn't have to. I guess the refugees from CA also affected us in similar ways. Yes, we were both debriefing people.

The next one was the war on drugs. I still remember the first time I picked up a person actually, bona fide, tortured. You will never forget it. Or the first time or last time, I was shot at, or any in between, you never forget it.

And of course the internal civil war in mexico due to Chiapas.

Then there was that September Morning and the hysterical call from my sis. She was in SD I was in Honolulu... my hubby was somewhere in Western Pacific. Now being under fire is one thing. You have no time to worry... me worry? Who has time? Being at home with a husband on a patrol that just became a war patrol is its own hell.

So when I see these kids in Iran doing this, or the kids in Iraq dying for nothing, or Afghanistan.. or for that matter the war on drugs. I only see one thing... a fellow human being who is in pain and suffering.

The same goes for the 19 year old who was sent to the other side of the world and is also scared shitless.

That is actually the lesson that I and Ahmed taught each other. We might have been members of the Red Cross, but until we started to listen to each other, we realized just how human we were.

So this is why this little soiree in Iran matters. And no, even in the best of conditions, it will not end in a way many in our guv;ment will appreciate. A Jeffersonian Democracy is not part of their historic and cultural DNA... but whatever happens, at least be in awe at the example. I know I am. And lord knows I have been shot at, assaulted, and done other shit. I know that fear is not part of the equation until well after this happens.

But reality is this, if you actually think about it, we really have been in a low level warfare since 1945... and I just happened to be on the front lines of just a few of them. But chiefly, as a lower upper class kid in Mexico City I should have never been exposed to that mess, any of it. Well, guess what? I guess that was another effect from dad's experience. He tried to over protect us, but I guess I took that Never Again saying a little too seriously and refuse to see anybody else, as the enemy. To do that I have to take away their humanity. I refuse to do that... and I refuse to hate.

Oh and Ahmed, wherever you are. Allah be with you and be safe.

That really moved me. I guess English is not your first language...I hope people get past that to see the deep meaning here.

God (whatever one you want) bless you and keep not hating. We need more like you in this world.

:-)

And we as a species need to get over tribalism

I'm not old enough to remember, but I've hear Eisenhower's 1961 "beware the military industrial complex" words more than a few times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdrGKwkmxAU

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

WWII never ended

they just changed the nazi branding to new logos without the swastika

"W" comes to mind

had farmers in Mexico growing opium on contract to make morphine for US military medical use in WWII. With the end of that war, the contracts were no longer honored, and the farmers were left high and dry. Well, they were used to earning an income, and they wre farmers, so they continued to grow the poppies and found means to sell their products to different markets in the US as heroin. This provided the big heroin influx into the US in the '50's.
I find it interesting that the estimate of imported drugs discovered and intercepted was 10% at the start of the "war". After decades of expense, effort, and struggle the rate is now.....10%.
I wonder how much of the drug profiteers money can be traced to politicians and law enforcement bosses in the US....just a thought.

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