The term ‘war’ is thrown around these days without much comprehension of the weight it carries. It has lost almost all meaning to a large part of a population which is being drugged, surveilled and terrorized into complete submission. We have been desensitized to violence by a torrent of bloodshed and depravity oftentimes masquerading as ‘entertainment’. The glorification of war through video games, movies and even the barbarism of MMA and similar blood sports, has rendered the population incapable of viewing violence as the grotesque happening that it is.
This apathetic indifference towards violence is evidenced by the fact that despite being at ‘war’- I use that term loosely as a war indicates a two-sided affair- for the better part of 30 years in Iraq and 16 years now in Afghanistan, there is nothing here at home even remotely resembling a strong organized resistance to these illegal and continuous onslaughts in the Middle East.
In spite of the fact that the war in Afghanistan is now the longest uninterrupted military engagement in U.S history- and there is no clearly stated or defined official reason for even being there- the streets are devoid of protestors and the blowback from an indignant and outraged citizenry that was so ubiquitous in times gone by, is almost entirely non-existent.
Even today as the drums of war beat ever more thunderously with regards to Syria, Iran, North Korea and even Russia-potentially a cataclysmic World War 3 scenario- the once vociferous and active population of these United States is seemingly rendered incapable of even pretending to care.
Much of this indifference comes from the media elevation of the American soldier into demigod like status, along with the complete dehumanization of those ‘freedom hating infidels’ which oppose them. The enduring image of the uniquely benevolent American soldier liberating these oil-rich countries from despotic dictators is one that is hammered home ad nauseam by the corporate media, yet stands in stark contradiction to the documented stories of abuses, check points, lockdowns, curfews, rapes and murders that accompany these occupied war zones once called ‘home’ by many.
Where is the outrage when a torture factory like Abu Ghraib is exposed for what it really is?
A big reason for the American public’s insouciance towards war is that the media simply doesn’t portray anything even remotely resembling an accurate representation of it. And why would they? Many major media outlets have very close ties to the defense industry, who reap massive profits from such war mongering.
The media is always very careful to omit casualty lists, images of bodies coming home in flag draped caskets and pictures of those unfortunate souls who happened to be underneath the ‘shock and awe’ style bombing campaigns carried out almost daily over the last 16 years.
When it is covered on television it is done in such a way as to leave the viewer believing that war entails little more than strategic attacks performed with state of the art military precision on the installations of our rogue terrorist enemies and that civilian casualties are very rare. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Few examples encapsulate our disturbing disregard for human life better than the term we now use to describe the wartime killing of innocents…. ‘collateral damage’.
This media hoodoo has given the populace a very slanted and sanitized view of war, far removed from the reality of it and serves as a big reason for the apparent lack of concern amongst our population.
Today, speaking out against the various military engagements is likely to get one tarred with the dreaded ‘Un-American’ epithet and be accused of somehow not ‘supporting the troops.’ The greatest way that we can support the troops in these troubled times, is to put an end to this war agenda which has ruined millions of lives on its course of human subjugation. Many American men and women returning from combat are suffering unthinkable mental disorders as a result of what they have been through. It is time for us to awaken, overcome our conditioning and remember what the true horrors of war really are.
Nothing is more antithetical to a happy, healthy and sane society than prolonged warfare.
It is frightening to think that children born into these violent times will believe them to be a normal way of life. It is incumbent upon those of us who oppose a world replete with bloodshed, to educate the younger generations coming up towards understanding the true meaning of war, which stands in stark contrast to the ‘noble’ G.I Joe, Hollywood version which each day seduces ever more young men and women into a fellowship with this barbaric killing machine. Hopefully with enough groundswell over time, we can awaken many more people into feeling a sense of moral outrage at the atrocities being committed in all of our names.
