The only way to justify war......

The only way to justify war…..

The only way to justify war, is to dehumanise its victims

This opinion piece was published in March 2011.  I think it clearly outlines how wars are started, and how they are continued – by making other people “lesser” beings.  Or, in other words, by flat out prejudice and racism.  It is done by dehumanizing the victims of war.

It is not normal to look at photographs of explosions and destruction and to celebrate.  It is not logical for people to agree with spending hundreds of thousands of pounds to send jets half way around the world to drop bombs on another people’s country, whilst their family members lose their jobs and their local services are cut.  These things do not make sense, but they are happening.  The government and the media have a clear plan in the run-up to foreign intervention; firstly, dehumanise the enemy to such an extent that any action is justified by their ‘evil’.

The article goes on to discuss how the leader of Libya has been demonized, and the citizens of that country who support him disappeared.  It is the same story, the same song and dance routine, for every war that the USA (or other countries) start or join in when they are not being attacked.  The leader of the target country is demonized, and compared to Hitler, and his past actions are derided in the corporate media – without a whisper about how the USA was supporting him when he did those horrible things.  

The people of the countries that the US government attacks are seen as barbarians, and as less than human.  They are seen the same way the US government in centuries past saw the native people of this land.  As a matter of fact, we have a recent operation named GERONIMO and we have weapons named Apache and Tomahawk.   We also have weapons called Grim Reaper and Hellfire missiles…. And yet some Americans think we drop those bombs for good intentions.
Well, they certainly are not keeping us safe.

Another interesting facet of American behavior is the frequency with which Americans claim (and think) that the people of the Middle East are just always violent – always have been and always will be.  But the people in the Middle East are not loading up airplanes full of bombs, bullets, and troops to invade and destroy other lands.  The USA does that.  And frankly, the USA is responsible for the second highest number of non-combatant deaths since World War II.  Only the DR Congo has seen a higher death toll.

How much longer will it be before the empire crashes?

The photo above is of an Iraqi child after US troops shot her parents dead when their car got too close to a foot patrol.  Photo was taken by Chris Hondros, who was killed in Libya covering that war.  Here is an updated story on what has happened to that child.

Face That Screamed War’s Pain Looks Back, 6 Hard Years Later