Tag Archives: war

bm287 4 Decades of Conflict in Mindanao

40 years of war in Mindanao rarely makes it to the front pages of the international press. Yet according to Edwin Espejo, more attention in the international would do alot towards ending this long and destructive conflict. As my guest in this edition of citizenreporter, Edwin explains a bit about the orgin of the conflict, the goals of the groups involved, and how things have evolved even prior to 9/11 and the connection between Mindanao and other conflicts in other parts of Asia.

I highly recommend his blog, which focuses on Mindanao and issues effecting the island, especially this conflict.

 

Latin American Soldiers, Unite

Most of you know that I’m a big fan of the Euronews Nocomment video podcast. The combination of pure video with the original sounds without commentary changes the experience of watching things happen in the world.

This morning I watched and rewatched as Ecuadorian soldiers walked through the tropical forrest in formation. Heavily armed and pointing guns everywhere, in preparation for whatever enemy they are told they may have to face some day soon. Obviously the present enemy they perceive is Colombia, just across the border.

As I watch these soldiers do this, and cut to some other video of both presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela exchanging hostile words with the president of Colombia, I have a vision. That these soldiers in Ecuador would suddenly stop marching, put down their machine guns, turn to the camera and say.. “You know, Colombians are our family, our friends, and our neighbors… we’re not going to shoot at them just because the president says we should.”

It will likely be written off as a naive vision by all those who believe whole heartedly in obeying orders and never asking questions. By now more then ever, why not ask just what the hell these governments are trying to do? Why is one army invading parts of one country and then the other countries threatening to bomb in retaliation? Why do people who know each other, who share so much of the past and present in common, choose to support this kind of logic?

One thing that we’re missing in the world today, from Afghanistan to the Congo to Colombia and on and on… is for people to stop following without questioning. To stop obeying when the orders are to destroy fellow humans, to commit mass murder in response to mass murder.

Selling Death

It is a pretty well known fact that the US is the global leader in arms sales. Some will also have heard that Russia is second. But in fact, if you put together all the European Union numbers, in terms of total arms sales in the last 10 years, they come very close to tying the US. Somehow its not a very publicized fact, Europe sells almost as many weapons as the US.

And who gets those weapons? Which countries in the world? Better yet, which groups in the world? Places where there is civil war? Dictatorships? Or civil wars yet to come? I think of all those child soldiers in the world and wonder where their gun came from? USA? France? Probably both.

Global warming gets a fair amount of play in the media these days. There is even some, though surely not enough, mobilization to do something about it. Yet all over the developed world in all these lovely places with people that are so highly educated and experienced, people are engaging in the arms trade. Making money selling weapons for people to kill each other with. Trading stocks and benefiting while people arm themselves and carry out mass murders in the name of the latest cause or call-to-arms. Even in the US now, the favored presidential candidate Hillary CLinton has become the number one choice of weapons manufacturers… and yet people believe she will bring change and restore some sort of self respect for the nation.

With each passing year that arms dealers post record profits, more people die needlessly in the name of business and strategic defense. If that isn’t a threat to our world, I don’t know what is.

Teaching and Talking About Srebrenica

When the Srebrenica massacre took place, in 1995, I had a limited understanding of what was happening in the world. But 2 years later I reached an age where I became conscious of the world beyond my school and the unnecessary suffering and destruction in different parts of the world.

12 years since Sebrenica, this month being the anniversary, I wonder what today’s teenagers are learning about what took place and why. To this day I still find I lack all the facts and a full understanding of how such a thing could be allowed to happen.

For this reason I’m working on a podcast that will take some time to put together, focusing on remembering Srebrenica and passing on the terrible story and the lessons, if any, that the world learned.

While the research is still ongoing, and the interviews will take some time to gather, I’m starting with some general resources that have gathered vital information. I hope teachers in different corners of the world are doing similar this month.

On War and Shooting

Briefly, because the last thing the internets need is another person talking about the Virginia Tech shootings.

If you’ve read the blog for awhile, you know that I normally turn on the CNN or BBC around 1am just to get my daily dose of what the power-elite want the masses to be informed about. And much like you, yesterday I was subjected to wall-to-wall shooting coverage. Oh the shock. Oh the humanity. Oh the repeated faux-sadness and naive-confusion of the news reporters, asking that same old question they actually don’t want answered “how could this happen.”

Look, I don’t know exactly how this happens, but I’d like to throw out a few factoids that should be taken into account.

The United States is a violent nation. Yes, so are some other countries in the world, but few can hold a candle to the US’s capacity and performance when it comes to using violence to kill mass amounts of people over the past… lets say 5 to 50 years. I’m talking about Nuclear Bombs, napalm, smart bombs, land mines, daisy cutters, bunker busters, depleted uranium… the list goes on and on. And whatever age you are, you’ve likely watched plenty of this on TV, or perhaps what is more true these days, you may have used such weapons first hand in a far away country.

What does this have to do with V-tech, or any school shootings anywhere? Probably nothing. Just keep telling yourself that America… probably nothing.

When Most of America are Veterans

I have this memory of my mother, when I was a kid, and its not the clearest of memories, but this is how it sits in my mind:

My mom was finishing her masters degree in social work, I must have been in the 5th grade. I remember because I would tell my 5th grade teacher sometimes, “My mom is getting her masters degree.” No idea why I needed to tell her that. Hopefully she had asked otherwise, what a little showoff I was.

Regardless in my memory she had a job or some kind of internship as part of her degree, at some counseling center in a city like Elizabeth, NJ. I can almost remember dad dropping her off at that place. I think alot of veterans went there.. vietnam vets. Mom would never, and has never been one to discuss people’s private details, I’m sure it wasn’t something she’d want to relive at home anyway. But I remember, and its still true, if you bring up life for Veterans trying to pick up the pieces back in the US, she has quite alot to say, and experience counseling them as her qualification to speak on this topic.

I thought about those days, which I’m sure my mom does as well as we watch hundreds of thousands of people being shipped off to a war zone… to a disaster.. and asked to do inhumane things such as kill or torture. I thought about it because I was cleaning the boat and listening to Radio Open Source’s program entitled “Coming Home: Iraq Veterans”. Now I wouldn’t say anything about it if it hadn’t reached into my heart and squeezed when I listened to these veterans speak.

Speak about the violence. What it was like to live that horror and follow orders to shoot people, and then come home and try to just be a friendly well adjusted neighbor again. At one point, one soldier is asked how people would act if they knew the types of things he had to do and what soldiers were required to do in Iraq.

The soldier replies…

“If they knew… they wouldn’t do it…. If people knew what war was about, war would stop. If my family knew, if people on the street knew, war would stop… if people knew, they would be alot more cautious about when war needs to happen.”

I listened to this show and I hit repeat to hear it again. I looked down at my dirty hands and the canal water.. I worried about what kind of future the US could possibly have with so many people damaged in such severe and not visibly detectable ways. I finally gave the engine a few pulls and listened to the engine reawaken after winter slumber, as Iraq veterans talked about their experiences in my ears.

Please listen to the show. Because besides the struggle to bring troops home and end this illegal and politically orchestrated war, the next biggest struggle that will effect the country for generations.. is how to help veterans deal with what they’ve been through, and handle the future as healthy civilians.