This is war, in a few words

Can there be anything worse than the organized mass murder which war is? Maybe an out of control ebola pandemic could be worse. Maybe the complete collapse of the most vital biological systems (Oceans, forests) could be worse.

The imperial forces are edging closer to a bombing campaign against Syria. Turkish President Erdogan called for a security zone along the Syrian border (on the Syrian side of course), which would have to be accompanied by a no-fly zone. In Ankara there is also talk of sending Turkish ground forces into Syria to restore order, perhaps in the form of hot-pursuit operations, perhaps on a longer scale.

The bandits of IS (Islamic State) are advancing one the Kurdish town of Kobane (Kobani, Ain al-Arab), causing 140,000 Kurds to flee. Kobane’s plight has not attracted much attention, because the Kurdish YPD/YPG (People’s Protection Units) are affiliated with the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Western governments.

According to press reports 40 Kurdish militia were killed in the past five days by IS, many of them when a suicide bomber drove into the western outskirts of the town in a vehicle disguised to look as though it was carrying humanitarian aid.

Turkey had closed the border for Kurdish refugees, but now reluctantly lets them in, making life as miserable as possible for them. Turkish security units repeatedly fired tear gas canisters at refugees. The refugees are not welcome, a sharp difference to the IS terrorists, which still get preferential treatment and can pass the border back and forth as they please. MIT (the Turkish spy agency) guided truck convoys with supply for IS are still spotted.

Cemil Bayik, the PKK’s top military commander in the field, told that Turkish soldiers had advance knowledge of the coming IS offensive against Kobane and he asserted: “By emptying Kobane and provoking a mass exodus of people, Turkey can then claim before the international community that its own security is at stake and set about establishing a buffer zone.”

Adem Uzun, a leading member of the Kurdistan National Congress,  said that Turkey had been helping IS militants in their attacks against Syrian Kurds.

IS forces have surrounded Turkeys tomb of Suleyman Shah, but don’t touch it, which is remarkable, considering IS’s proclivity to demolish shrines and mausoleums considered heretical in its fundamentalist form of Islam.

The US has launched a few airstrikes against IS positions around Kobane, carefully metered to avert accusations of complicity while in reality not impeding the IS offensive. IS has amassed fighters and armor around Kobane and bombing them would really have an impact.

It is apparently not the goal of the US air strikes to have a severe impact on IS.

In the Ukraine the ceasefire between the Ukranian army plus “punitive battalions” against separatists in Donbass is 70 percent holding, according to Andrei Purgin, deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. According to the OSCE observers shelling has been reduced by two-thirds. Shelling of Donetsk residential areas with mortars and rocket systems continues.

A one-third war can be tough still.

Ukrainian forces are encircled in several cauldrons and try to break out. It is getting colder and the fighters on both sides face adverse weather.

The separatists are held on a short leach by Russia and their calls for independence and for a nationalization of the industries, which are now owned by oligarchs (Akhmetov, Taruta) have not found sympathetic ears.

One of the most generous supporters of the separatists is Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev.

The Maidan activists initially also called for action against the oligarchs and for independence from outside influences. Now they fight against the people who would be their logical allies.

This is the magic of propaganda, also called “media spin,” (brainwashing, indoctrination, mind control).

Ukrainian media is in lockstep with the oligarchs, which is not surprising, because all media companies are in the oligarchs possession. No censorship needed.

The generals who opposed a deployment of Ukrainian soldiers against compatriots are all dismissed now. The  soldiers are not dismissed, but they can desert, and they do.

Deserters are the true heroes of war!

Chelsea Manning is a hero. http://couragetoresist.org/ 

Conscientious objectors like Ben Salmon, Franz Jaegerstaetter, William White, Muhammed Ali, Kyle Wesolowski, are heroes of war.

Peace activists are heroes of war.

James Keir Hardie, Martin Niemoeller, Mahatma Gandhi, Bertrand Russell, Sophie Scholl, Thich Naht Hanh.

Mary Anne Grady-Flores, Michael Walli, Sister Megan Rice, Greg Boertje-Obed, Bonnie Urfer, Father Daniel Berrigan.

Writers, who publish anti-war novels or poetry are heroes of war:

Ernest Hemmingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms, Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, Erich Maria Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front, Joseph Heller: Catch-22, Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace, Vera Brittain: Testament of Youth, Jaroslav Hasek: The Good Soldier Svejk, Harold Pinter: War.

Rick Rozoff not only keeps track of NATO’s war preparations but also posts a steady stream of excerpts from famous anti-war novels on his websitehttp://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

http://catsnotwar.blogspot.com/

http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/

And many other anti-war bloggers and independent journalists which I cannot name here all are heroes of war.

Musicians, who write ant-war songs are heroes of war.

Brothers In Arms by Mark Knopfler.

One Tin Soldier (The Ballad of Billy Jack) by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter.

That inspiring anti-war songs like Masters of War, Blowing in the Wind, A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall, With God on Our Side, were composed by Israel supporter Robert Zimmermann (Bob Dylan), doesn’t make them worthless, but Dylan is not a hero.

I’m also not a hero, I’m just a humble blogger, but in the time when I worked as a musician I wrote a few anti-war song lyrics, two of them may fit here:

Brick Wall Song  MATO 03/01/2003

8000 young stuntmen
Will stumble more often
Approaching the brick wall
Which will be their last call
This wall has no bypass
And so they will die fast
As dreams turn to dust
And present to past

8000 young widows
Are tapping with their toes
The chorals sound nice
As they are sung twice
The brass band is playing
The preacher is praying
The church bells are ringing
Sweet angels are singing

The dues are all paid now
The memories fade now
The lawsuits are settled
The big fights are battled
A new generation
Will seek recreation
Give in to temptation
And fight for the nation

This is war, in a few words  MATO 10/09/2014

Frightened by the noise of loud explosions
Tortured by the weirdest of emotions
Inconceivable and grisly notions
It is war, the deadliest of commotions

Innervated by anticipation
Stimulated by morbid elation
Edging closer to annihilation
Marching right towards obliteration

Cheering bloodstained killers benediction
War and honor are no contradiction
Slaughtering was sometimes an addiction
Armageddon long ago a fiction

Violence and warriors adulation
Decimation means natures salvation
Justice will come by elimination
Peace achieved by mens eradication