Category: Peace

PEACE: Since the USA is funding the Ukraine side of the Russiian war, we should be able to enforce a peace

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https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/01/karen-kwiatkowski/some-questions-for-our-congressmen-and-senators-on-ukraine/

Some Questions for Our Congressmen and Senators on Ukraine – LewRockwell
By Karen Kwiatkowski
January 27, 2023

*** begin quote ***

Dear Representative and Senators,

As we approach twelve months of the Russian SMO to end Kiev’s war on Russians of east and south Ukraine, and resolve the NATO head fake of Minsk II, it’s question and answer time for London, Washington, and Poland – and each of you.

The US Congress approved over $100 Billion in arms and aid to Ukraine in the past year. At the same time, Russian forces have secured 20% of the former Ukrainian landmass, nearly everything east of the Dneiper River, and have established not only a formidable defensive line, they have begun rebuilding political, economic, defense and civil society in the eastern Republics.

First question: What, in your opinion, will the next $100 Billion – gain for the United States?

*** end quote ***

Not much.

We need to put the kibosh on this war.

NOW!

—30—

PEACE: Ethiopia’s Tigray truce — always a good thing

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63490546

Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict: Truce agreed

  • Redwan Hussien Rameto (L) from the Ethiopian government, and Getachew Reda (R), who represents Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), shook hands on the deal.

By Cecilia Macaulay & Anne Soy
BBC News

*** begin quote ***

Tigray Truce

Ethiopian officials and representatives from the country’s northern Tigray region agreed to a truce yesterday, suspending a bloody civil war that included accusations of war crimes, genocide, and attacks against international aid workers. The deal came one day ahead of the two-year anniversary of the conflict.

Governed by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Tigray accounts for just 6% of Ethiopia’s population but has historically enjoyed outsized influence among the country’s many ethnic groups (see 101). The rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018 led to a shift toward nationalized politics and away from regional blocs of power, triggering tensions with Tigrayan leaders that spiraled into open conflict in 2020.

Some estimates place the death toll from the conflict near 500,000, with more than 5 million residents displaced and hundreds of thousands of civilians succumbing to famine.

*** end quote ***

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9, NIV).

Now let’s send the brokers to Ukraine and Russia.

—30—

PEACE: A good object lesson on the true cost of war; it was a meaningless one founded on deceit and lies

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098328/

The Siege of Firebase Gloria
1988
R
1h 37m

Wings Hauser as Cpl. Joseph L. DiNardo
R. Lee Ermey as Sargent Major Bill Hafner

*** begin quote ***

A tough, gritty, and seemingly authentic war movie

rsimanski18 March 2002

If you’ve never heard of this movie before, you’re in good company. Apparently, neither have Leonard Maltin, Roger Ebert, or the editors of the “VideoHound Golden Movie Retriever.” Fortunately, the editor of VideoHound’s book on war movies had heard of it. Based on his favorable review, I taped and viewed the film recently. If you enjoy a good “battle” movie, be sure to catch this one–you won’t be disappointed.

“The Siege of Firebase Gloria” is a real film about real people in an unreal hell. Its apparently low budget was a blessing because it forced the creators to focus on plot and character development rather than on bombastic and meaningless special effects. Nevertheless, the battle sequences are believable and well-done.

This film is a sleeper that apparently did not get the exposure that it deserved. Then again, R. Lee Ermey and Wings Hauser, who played the lead roles, are not exactly box-office draws, and the other names in the cast were totally unfamiliar to me. However, Ermey, Hauser, and everyone in the cast do a solid job.

The action takes place during the Vietnamese Tet offensive in 1968, during a supposed holiday cease-fire, when the Viet Cong caught the South Vietnamese and U.S. forces by surprise with an all-out assault throughout South Vietnam. Ermey and his Marines are caught in the trap when they are ordered to help defend a small, meaningless outpost, Firebase Gloria, with virtually no help except, finally, from a small Air Cavalry unit. The Tet offensive was the beginning of the end for South Vietnam.

I never served in Vietnam, but this film has the feeling of being authentic. This is not a simplistic “good guys versus bad guys” film. The atrocities and inhumanities committed by both sides are not overemphasised but they are not glossed over either. They are just there as part of the fabric of the war.

Perhaps more importantly, they are shown in the context of a deadly, virtually unsurvivable siege and final battle. We sympathize with the Marines, of course, and we see them as ordinary, basically decent human beings. We may not condone some of the things that they do, but we understand why they may have seen no other alternative. It reminds me of the film “Zulu,” about British troops trapped in a similar situation a century ago.

For many of us, our image of R. Lee Ermey is as the over-the-top drill sergeant in “Full Metal Jacket.” His character in “Firebase Gloria” is more human and lower in key, yet you can see his character evolving into the drill sergeant following his tour in Vietnam. When you’ve walked through hell with your fellow battle-hardened Marines and been one of the few to come out alive, you know that you have to do everything in your power to prepare your green recruits to walk through that same hell.

Is “Firebase Gloria” on the same level of quality as “Platoon” and “Full Metal Jacket”? Not quite. I’d put it on a par with “Go Tell the Spartans,” which, despite a strong performance from Burt Lancaster, has also never gotten the exposure that it deserves. These films deserve to be seen, not forgotten.

*** end quote ***

It’s a good object lesson on the true cost of war; it was a meaningless one founded on deceit and lies.

I have no idea how historically accurate it is.  I have no idea if the morals of the story are worth deciphering.  I have no idea of how strong a stomach for watching.  I have no idea if the Viet Cong were subsumed by Hanoi as a result of this, or any other battle. 

It certainly does a great job of tallying up the body count to the grunts on both sides.  How anyone could go through that and not come out with PTSD is beyond my comprehension.

It made me more a little L libertarian.

“There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men.” — character Sergeant Charles Zim in Starship Troopers, a book Robert A. Heinlein, author

The author that “made” me a little L libertarian and truly anti-war — no matter which faction is in the White House.

—30—

PEACE: Don’t poke the bear!

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https://www.unz.com/pbuchanan/first-priority-avoid-us-war-with-russia/

First Priority — Avoid US War With Russia
Pat Buchanan • April 22, 2022 • 900 Words • 29 Comments • Reply

*** begin quote ***

Asked if the U.S. should send troops to fight beside the Ukrainians, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Sunday the time may have come.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “will only stop when we stop him,” said Coons.

“We are in a very dangerous moment where it is important that … we in Congress and the administration come to a common position about when we are willing to go the next step and to send not just arms but troops to the aid in defense of Ukraine.”

*** and ***

As U.S. forces fighting and killing Russians in Ukraine would ignite a U.S.-Russia war, which could escalate to nuclear war, we are not going to take that first step and risk the security and survival of our country, even if our staying out of this two-month war means the defeat of Ukraine.

Call it the Eisenhower position.

*** end quote ***

I often agree with Pat Buchanan and this time is no exception.

I would point out that the USA overthrew the elected Government in the Ukraine when it was pro-Russia. 

I would also point out that the USA via “Voice of America” encouraged the Hungarian revolution and then (once again) “hung the poor dupes out to dry”.

The USA should just stop being the instigator and MYOB!

Oh BTW, Chris Coons should go put boots on the ground; not “our” young women and men.

—30—

PEACE: Let the generation that goes to war pay for that war

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https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2021/12/12/want-war-you-pay-for-it/

Want War? You Pay for It!
By: Mike Maharrey | Published on: Dec 12, 2021

*** begin quote ***

James Madison warned us about the costs of war.

War comes with an extremely high price tag. According to the Cost of War Project by the Watson Institute at Brown University, the U.S. spent $2.26 trillion on the war in Afghanistan alone. That comes to over $300 million spent every single day over the span of two decades.

In 2018, the Watson Institute calculated that America’s “war on terror” had cost the equivalent of $23,000 per taxpayer.

But the average person has no sense of the cost of America’s neverending wars. That’s because the government primarily pays for its wars by borrowing money, effectively pushing the cost to future generations.

Imagine if every taxpayer had to write that $23,000 check.

We might reconsider perpetual war.

James Madison thought so.

*** and ***

Beyond this separation of powers, Madison wrote in his 1792 newspaper article that “each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expence of other generations.” Furthermore, Madison proposed that “war taxes” should be levied in such a way as to make it clear what those dollars are paying for.

*** end quote ***

If we didn’t have “dishonest money” that can allow the politicians and bureaucrats to use the hidden tax of inflation to push the debt onto future generations, then we should have a war tax.

Take the all the Pentagon and three letter “war” agencies like the CIA, TSA, Homeland Security and divide it by the total taxpayers.  That should be a line item added to everyone’s tax return next year.  Wonder how long before ever the steepest Sheeple is down at their “representative’s office” with a pitchfork, torch, and tar ’n’ feathers?

There’s a reason that Election Day is as far as possible from Tax Day!

Give peace a chance cause if nothing else, it’s cheaper!

—30—

PEACE: Shouldn’t we be ELIMINATING the draft altogether

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https://nypost.com/2021/07/25/republicans-oppose-making-women-register-for-draft/

Republicans blast defense budget proposal requiring women to register for draft
By Mark Moore
July 25, 2021 | 3:38pm | Updated

*** begin quote ***

Republicans are blasting a provision in the federal defense budget that would require women to register for the military draft. ​

The ​Senate National Defense Authorization Act, approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, contains an amendment that would compel women between the ages of 18 to 25 to sign up for the Selected Service, just as men that age are required to do.

Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, an Iraq War veteran known as a hawk on defense issues, and Josh Hawley of Missouri voted against the proposal.

*** end quote ***

The Dead Old White Guys didn’t want to have a standing army.  Hence all the emphasis on the State militias.

Without the standing army, there would be no Military Industrial Complex.

And, hence no empire.

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PEACE: Hubris was our failing

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https://www.unz.com/pbuchanan/is-afghanistan-a-failed-mission/

Is Afghanistan a Failed Mission?, by Pat Buchanan – The Unz Review

*** begin quote ***

As in Vietnam from 1965 to 1973, the year our prisoners of war came home, America did not lose a major battle in Afghanistan.

Yet we did not win the war. South Vietnam was lost.

And contrary to the message awaiting President George W. Bush when he landed on the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which was flaunting the banner “Mission Accomplished,” America did not accomplish its mission.

President Joe Biden said as much Thursday, when he responded to a reporter’s question, “The mission has not failed — yet.”

As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 impends, and with it our final exit from the Afghan war, the Taliban are overrunning districts at will, and Afghan troops are avoiding battle in what many see as a lost cause.

Monday, 1,000 Afghan soldiers fled into Tajikistan rather than face advancing Taliban forces.

Why did we not succeed? And what does our failure there portend?

We failed, first, because our initial mission, once accomplished, was altered and enlarged to where it became unattainable.

*** and ***

There never was a vital U.S. interest in Afghanistan worth a war of the cost in blood, treasure and time that we have just fought.

*** and ***

Many who cast their lot with us are going to pay with their lives, as will their families. And the enemies of the United States are likely to be energized by what they perceive, not wrongly, as a strategic defeat of the USA.

We did it to ourselves. Hubris was our failing, as it often is of great powers, the mindset exhibited by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright when she declared: “If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.”

*** end quote ***

Unfortunately the “peace movement” of the 60’s and 70’s was astroturf against the R’s.

We, little L libertarians, are in that movement regardless of which side of the two-sided political spectrum.

Other than the Quakers, I don’t know who else we can count on to end the Hubris.  Certainly NOT the MIC (Military Industrial Complex).

Let’s cut the “defense” budget 20% and rethink the Dead Old White Guys desire to avoid a standing army.  Shut down the FBI and CIA while disarming the Department of Agriculture.  As a matter of fact, spin the Agriculture budget back to the sovereign States and shut it down completely.

What are the proper functions of the “central” Gooferment? At most “defense” and foreign relations.  Like the Swiss, no one messes with a neutral.

Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of senators) and return the State’s power and get the money out of that layer of Gooferment.

—30—

PEACE: Just declare “victory” and bring the girls and boys home

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https://thehill.com/policy/defense/546562-cross-partisan-groups-urge-biden-to-stick-with-may-1-afghanistan-withdrawal

Cross-partisan groups urge Biden to stick with May 1 Afghanistan withdrawal
BY REBECCA KHEEL – 04/06/21 09:00 AM EDT 

*** begin quote ***

A coalition of advocacy groups for veterans and military families from across the political spectrum is calling on President Biden to adhere to a May 1 deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

In a letter to Biden on Tuesday, the nine organizations argued the May 1 deadline “presents the best opportunity any president over the past twenty years has faced to end America’s longest ever war.”

“On behalf of our membership and veterans across the country who have answered the call to serve our country, we urge you to honor the sacrifices our troops and their families are willing to make on America’s behalf by not asking our women and men in uniform to remain entangled in a conflict with no clear military mission or path to victory,” the groups wrote in the letter obtained by The Hill. “Our members are proud of their service, but they know it is long past time for America to come home from Afghanistan.”

*** end quote ***

“Biden did not just support the war. He served as Bush and Cheney’s Senate gatekeeper and whip, guaranteeing a majority vote for the war in the upper chamber while controlled by the opposition party. If Biden had any moral courage at all, he could have stopped that war.”
― Scott Horton, Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism

So I don’t expect much from Biden.

I would urge every vet to speak up and get us out of this quagmire.  

It broke the USSR and will do the same for us.

Like Viet Name, just declare “victory” and leave.

—30—

PEACE: Withdraw the ALL Troops From Somalia!

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https://news.antiwar.com/2020/12/04/president-trump-orders-to-withdraw-the-majority-of-troops-from-somalia/

President Trump Orders to Withdraw the ‘Majority’ of Troops From Somalia
The Plan will reposition troops to neighboring countries to allow for ‘cross-border operations’
Dave DeCamp Posted on December 4, 2020

*** begin quote ***

The Pentagon announced on Friday that President Trump ordered the withdrawal of the “majority” of US troops from Somalia.

“The President of the United States has ordered the Department of Defense and the United States Africa Command to reposition the majority of personnel and assets out of Somalia by early 2021,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

The statement said “some forces may be reassigned outside of East Africa,” but the remaining troops will be reassigned to neighboring countries to “allow cross-border operations.”

The US currently has approximately 700 troops in Somalia. The majority of them were sent by the Trump administration. The US operations in the country consist of training local forces, covert raids, and a drone war against al-Shabab.

*** end quote ***

Let’s bring all the girls, boys, women, and men home now! We have so many politicians and bureaucrats to send in their place if it’s really needed!

—30—

PEACE: Mike Pompeo arrives in Qatar to witness signing of historic deal with Taliban | Daily Mail Online

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The United States and the Taliban have signed a peace agreement aimed at ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan, potentially helping President Donald Trump fulfill a key campaign promise to extract America from its ‘endless wars.’

Source: Mike Pompeo arrives in Qatar to witness signing of historic deal with Taliban | Daily Mail Online

# – # – # – # – #

Well, DJT45 has certainly met my expectations of him as the “peace candidate”.

I’m sure the “chickenhawks” and those who benefit from the Military Industrial Complex are upset.

I’d like to see him “settle” all the other “wars” that the USA is involved in.

Let’s bring all the girls, boys, women, and men home now! We have so many politicians and bureaucrats to send in their place if it’s really needed!

— 30 —

https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2020/02/29/veterans-group-praises-trump-peace-agreement-chides-chicken-hawk-cheney/

— 30 —

PEACE: Why Washington Blows Up Over A European Army

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Via The Strategic Culture Foundation, “Insulting” – that’s how US President Donald Trump sharply reacted to the idea of a “real European army” proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron. And it was how Macron rationalized the need for an independent military force for Europe that perhaps most irked the American leader.

Source: Why Washington Blows Up Over A European Army

# – # – # – # – #

Perhaps, this “european army” might be the key to winding down the overstretching of the USA’s military and finances?

— 30 —

PEACE: “All we are saying is give peace a chance”

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2018-Jul-17

http://www.unz.com/pbuchanan/trump-calls-off-cold-war-ii/

Trump Calls Off Cold War II
PAT BUCHANAN • JULY 17, 2018 • 900 WORDS • 9 COMMENTS 

*** begin quote ***

Beginning his joint press conference with Vladimir Putin, President Trump declared that U.S. relations with Russia have “never been worse.”

He then added pointedly, that just changed “about four hours ago.”

It certainly did. With his remarks in Helsinki and at the NATO summit in Brussels, Trump has signaled a historic shift in U.S. foreign policy that may determine the future of this nation and the fate of his presidency.

He has rejected the fundamental premises of American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War and blamed our wretched relations with Russia, not on Vladimir Putin, but squarely on the U.S. establishment.

In a tweet prior to the meeting, Trump indicted the elites of both parties: “Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!”

Trump thereby repudiated the records and agendas of the neocons and their liberal interventionist allies, as well as the archipelago of War Party think tanks beavering away inside the Beltway.

Looking back over the week, from Brussels to Britain to Helsinki, Trump’s message has been clear, consistent and startling.

NATO is obsolete. European allies have freeloaded off U.S. defense while rolling up huge trade surpluses at our expense. Those days are over. Europeans are going to stop stealing our markets and start paying for their own defense.

And there will be no Cold War II.

*** end quote ***

Certainly seems like a good meeting for us anti-war advocates.  

I personally hope that DJT45 closes down NATO and lets all its politicians and bureaucrats more onto more productive work.

It’s a good time to change the foreign policy of “world’s policeman” and institute a Swiss style MYOB.

# – # – # – # – #

PEACE: NATO — Let’s Get Out!

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Trump Hammers NATO. Good! Let’s Get Out!Ron Paul and Daniel McAdams Posted on July 11, 2018President Trump is making waves as he arrives in Europe for the NATO summit. Chiding Germany for benefitting from US protection against Russia while buying billions of dollars worth of Russian oil, he has captured the duplicity of European leaders. But the solution is not to browbeat them to spend more on their militaries. It’s to shut down NATO once and for all.

Source: Trump Hammers NATO. Good! Let’s Get Out! – Antiwar.com Blog

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What a great way to return to the “peace path”.  NATO serves NO purpose other than provide Gooferment “jobs” for all involved.

We can’t afford it!

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PEACE: How do “we” get out of the Afghanistan quagmire

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https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/a-war-without-an-objective-6000-days-in/

WORLD
A War without an Objective, 6,000 Days In
By GEORGE WILL
March 11, 2018 6:30 AM

*** begin quote ***

It would be helpful to know just what is America’s interest in Afghanistan.‘The war is over.”
— Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Afghanistan (April 2002)

“I believe victory is closer than ever before.”
— Vice President Mike Pence in Afghanistan (December 2017)

With metronomic regularity, every thousand days or so, Americans should give some thought to the longest war in their nation’s history. The war in Afghanistan, which is becoming one of the longest in world history, reaches its 6,000th day on Monday, when it will have ground on for substantially more than four times longer than U.S. involvement in World War II from Pearl Harbor to V-J Day (1,346 days).

America went to war in Afghanistan because that not-really-governed nation was the safe haven from which al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks. It was not mission creep but mission gallop that turned the intervention into a war against the Taliban who had provided, or at least not prevented, the safe haven. So, the United States was on a mission opposed by a supposed ally next door — Pakistan, which through Directorate S of its intelligence service has supported the Taliban.

*** end quote ***

Whatever the tactical or strategic objectives in Afghanistan is, I don’t know what it is.

I blame Congress for its continued abdication of its “war making” power. I blame the various Presidents for not just declaring “victory” and marching out.

“Yes. In the end, you will walk out. Because 100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350 million Indians, if those Indians refuse to cooperate.” — movie Gandhi (1983)

So to, if “We, The Sheeple” refuse to support it, what will the warfare state do?

# – # – # – # – #

 

 

PEACE: Good men and women in harm’s way

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The Hornet’s Nest (2014)

The Hornet’s Nest is a groundbreaking and immersive feature film, using unprecedented real footage to tell the story of an elite group of U. S. troops sent on a dangerous mission deep inside one of Afghanistan’s most hostile valleys. What was planned as a single day strike turned into nine intense days of combat against an invisible, hostile enemy in terrain where troops had never dared go before.

Starring: Mike Boettcher, Carlos Boettcher

# – # – # – # – # 

Let’s bring all the girls, boys, women, and men home now! We have so many politicians and bureaucrats to send in their place if it’s really needed!

So sad.

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PEACE: DJT45 maybe a peace maker

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2017/05/28/trumps-commitment-to-peace-is-serious-and-fulfills-major-campaign-promises/#22948e82137e

MAY 28, 2017 @ 11:00 AM
The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
Trump’s Commitment To Peace Is Serious And Fulfills Major Campaign Promises
Ralph Benko, CONTRIBUTOR
Here you will find a political Secret Decoder Ring.

*** begin quote ***

President Trump returns from his foray into Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, then with EU leaders. He demonstrated a unique foreign policy vision, one unpopular with many elites but welcome to voters.

He brings home an under-sung foreign policy triumph.

America is giving up a world hegemony it never sought. The world will be a safer, better, place for that.

There are two deliverables that the voters want, above all, from their president. One is prosperity. The other is security a/k/a peace. All else — except dignity, call it national honor, important but intangible — is either sideshow or amenity.

*** end quote ***

This will be a very great side effect of the “hold your nose” election. 

I can’t think of any greater side effect of that election would be that we get some “world peace”.

But, then what will the beauty queen candidates wish for?

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