In the 21st century, the rules of engagement in respect of war have changed. Gone are the days of armies in their combat uniforms, lying in wait for each other on the plains of battle, pushing each other around by dint of whose hardware is superior on the day. War is no longer fought by supply and by marching at the speed of its slowest soldier. The superpowers are now having the benefits of war, without the massive costs incurred by globally destructive conflicts. The benefits of war being:
1) An atmosphere of dread and fear which facilitates a continuation of armament research, sales and production, for domestic consumption and international commerce. This employs the brightest members of society who would be otherwise employed in consumer product development, medical research or possibly education.
2) The construction of an oppositional narrative without a clearly defined enemy. This is primarily to justify the disproportionate spending on armaments, but also to chill and suppress any political pretension towards global cooperative government. In international mass capitalism conflict is good, cooperation is dangerous.
3) The expense of continual conflict has a chilling effect on all aspects of domestic culture, partially fuelled by the crippling cost of total war on the domestic economies, partially funded through austerities where the nation is indebted to the war industry, and as a result becomes dependant on it for its very survival.
4) Non-linear war has the advantage of generating weak oppositional figures, who generate fear to support the above, but whose atrocities are either far away and concern vulnerable, but distant groups, or occasionally outrage the first world with acts of suicidal terrorism. In these instances, the terrorist is always killed instead of captured, lest the terrorist is able to share their world view in opposition to the dominant world view.
This state of play is as a result of three factors:
1) The USA’s disproportionate role, as avenging policeman following the failure of the UN, the continuing Zionist oppression of Palestine, the failure of the Syrian and Afghan missions following 9/11. The USA, in seeking to deliver revenge for the terrorist outrage has attacked the wrong targets and as the collateral damage has multiplied, a genuine oppositional force is emerging through ISIS.
2) Russia, in copying the USA’s disregard of public opinion has taken to its own secret war games in Chechnya, Syria and Ukraine.
3) China, despite adopting a neutral voice has bankrolled both America and Russia economically, and is waging economic war on the rest of the world by becoming the economic super power of the 21st century.
The soldiers now don’t wear uniforms. Somewhere, a supermarket, a school, a taxi, a cafe, a night club, a restaurant is being bombed by drones. They are unconstrained by political accountability. They creep over borders, in radar immune helicopters, killing secretly with impunity. It used to be said that Justice wears a blindfold to prove that she is fair, when she weighed the guilt of the accused in her scales. There might be another reason. Maybe she simply cannot bear to look at the atrocities being committed in her name. Cleo, the goddess of history wept tears of forgetfulness, so that the living do not remember everything they did to get here. It was true then, and it is true now; except, in that we forget the world as we live through each aching moment of horror. When the drones bomb your schools suddenly, without warning, and some big man with a gun starts pushing you towards a truck taking you to fuck knows where, just remember that this is the price you pay for your indulgence to have have a retaliatory response, instead of an international law, that is respected and followed by all human beings. Everybody matters, that is an idea worth fighting for!
No comments:
Post a Comment