OMNI WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #129, JUNE 7, 2023.

OMNI WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #129, JUNE 7,  2023.
Norman Solomon.  War Made Possible by corporate mainstream media.
TomDispatch. Andrew Bacevich.  What “victory” for Ukrainians might mean.
Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies.  Stop the Ukraine War Now.
Women Cross DMZ: 2023 Korea Peace Advocacy Week.

Why do most US citizens accept the US Empire and its wars?  Norman Solomon argues in War Made Possible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine (2023) that the corporate mainstream media and US political leaders conceal the tragic consequences of war.  US leaders have perpetuated war since WWII by distancing the public from the killing and costs via high tech warmaking, and via the mainstream news media that rely heavily on “ military narratives that euphemize and shroud” the violence and mask massive Pentagon budgets while neglecting domestic needs.

 

Andrew Bacevich.  “ Seduced by War -- Yet Again.” June 1, 2023. Let me just express my concern about the war in Ukraine by wondering what "victory" might actually mean for the Ukrainians. Let's assume for a moment that the coming, much-publicized Ukrainian counteroffensive will indeed punch serious holes in the lines of a battered and demoralized Russian military and that Ukrainian forces won't just bloodily win back significant parts of their territory (even, say, endangering the Russian position in Crimea), but cause that country's military to begin to collapse. Think of such developments as something like the ultimate victory scenario (or perhaps dream) of both Kyiv and Washington. My own worry is that, should such a thing happen -- and I'm not faintly predicting it -- how might Russian President Vladimir Putin respond? We're talking about the leader of one of the two most over-armed nuclear powers on the planet who has, in these months, implicitly threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield, even if a Ukrainian nuclear plant doesn't go up in smoke in the fighting to come. It's been more than three-quarters of a century since such weaponry was used twice to utterly devastating effect to end a war, a period in which the great powers have nuclearized on an almost unimaginable scale. Worse yet, in recent years, all the nuclear agreements between the U.S. and Russia, the two countries with 90% of the planet's nuclear weapons, have essentially been canceled, even as both of those powers continue to "modernize" their arsenals to the tune of trillions of dollars. Now, we find ourselves at a moment when a future "victory" for Kyiv could, depending on how Putin responds, be a historic catastrophe for Ukrainians, Russians, and the rest of the world with the possible introduction of such weaponry on a European battlefield. It's both hard to imagine and all too conceivable. But as TomDispatch regular Andrew Bacevich, author most recently of On Shedding an Obsolete Past: Bidding Farewell to the American Century, points out today, Joe Biden's Washington is all too ready to take a chance on just such a future, rather than focusing on how to bring peace to a Europe in ever greater chaos. Tom The Compulsion to Intervene: Why Washington Underwrites Violence in Ukraine By Andrew Bacevich

“When Will US Join Global Call to End Ukraine War? by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies.  CounterCurrents.org, 31/05/2023.
Here is the conclusion; to read the full essay go to https://countercurrents.org/2023/05/when-will-us-join-global-call-to-end-ukraine-war/

…..The initial decision of the United States and NATO member countries to try to help Ukraine resist the Russian invasion had broad public support. However, blocking promising peace negotiations and deliberately choosing to prolong the war as a chance to “press” and “weaken” Russia changed the nature of the war and the U.S. role in it, making Western leaders active parties to a war in which they will not even put their own forces on the line.

Must our leaders wait until a murderous war of attrition has killed an entire generation of Ukrainians, and left Ukraine in a weaker negotiating position than it was in April 2022, before they respond to the international call for a return to the negotiating table?

Or must our leaders take us to the brink of World War III, with all our lives on the line in an all-out nuclear war, before they will permit a ceasefire and a negotiated peace?

Rather than sleepwalking into World War III or silently watching this senseless loss of lives, we are building a global grassroots movement to support initiatives by leaders from around the world that will help to quickly end this war and usher in a stable and lasting peace. Join us.

Medea Benjamin is the cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace, and the author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Nicolas J. S. Davies is an independent journalist, a researcher with CODEPINK and the author of Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.

https://countercurrents.org/2023/05/when-will-us-join-global-call-to-end-ukraine-war/

 

Register for 2023 Korea Peace Advocacy Week

Register to participate in Korea Peace Advocacy Week, June 5-9, 2023!
Every year, Korea Peace Advocacy Week brings together hundreds of people around the country to participate in meetings with their members of Congress to advocate for legislation supporting peace in Korea.
Participants of the 2023 Korea Peace Advocacy Week will join two or three half-hour virtual meetings with Congressional staff of their Representative and Senators, sharing personal stories and urging members to support legislation focused on Korea peace.

This nationally coordinated action is particularly timely as tensions on the Korean Peninsula are running dangerously high: North Korea recently displayed enough ICBMs to overwhelm the U.S.’ s missile defense system, the United States and South Korea continue to hold provocative military exercises, and South Korea is considering arming itself with nuclear weapons. It’s clear we need a non-military solution to the security crisis in Korea — now.
Korea Peace Advocacy Week is organized by American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee, and Women Cross DMZ.   Contact Colleen Moore at colleen@womencrossdmz.org with questions.

SPONSORED BY  WOMEN CROSS DMZ