Where Do We Go From Here?

The West’s failure to hold former leaders responsible for War Crimes in Iraq is now having long-term devastating consequences.

Western nations are now shutting borders to desperate refugees, who are fleeing the disastrous fallout of illegal wars begun by the US Coalition. The US Neoconservatives boasted that “dominos” would fall as the US military triumphed across the Middle East. Instead chaos is spreading, creating negative impacts around the world.

US leaders refused to acknowledge legitimate grievances that lead to 9/11. They still call anyone who opposes their global military empire a “terrorist”. Now this same mad logic is being used to justify further slaughter, Dirty Wars around the planet, political interference on every continent. This same mad logic is now creating terrorists, spreading violence, poverty, homelessness — and gutless US allies still foolishly go along with it.

To see how insane this has all become, consider what would have happened if the US had acknowledged the reasons behind 9/11 instead. Among other things, Al Qaeda demanded an end to US interference in the Middle East. Was that such an unreasonable demand? We should all demand it! But then they will say we are supporting terrorists, which is a thoughtcrime, even if we denounce all violence.

This is the next layer of insanity: our failure to hold Western War Criminals to account has lead not just to more violence abroad, but to increasing attacks on civil liberties at home. And those who are silenced most assiduously are those like Manning, Assange and Snowden, who demand accountability, transparency, peace & justice.

This generation’s military monsters love to invoke the past glories of wars against the Nazis, even as they impose the same Fascist agenda upon us. As Mussolini said: “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism, because it is a merger of state and corporate power.” Or as the Greeks said more recently: “Once they came with tanks, now they come with banks.” As I write, for example, Western leaders are poised to sign the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which will massively erode national sovereignty by allowing corporations to sue governments whose policies negatively affect their profits.

It’s time we stood up to the Fascist politicians, the banksters, the climate-destroying corporations & their military-industrial mates. But how do we stand up when our mainstream media has been co-opted, our Internet & phone networks are monitored, and new terror laws are carefully crafted to silence dissent?

Must we all use encryption? OK, encryption lets us chat & share information somewhat, but then what? Do we become a furtive minority of subterranean geeks? Encryption is better than being spied upon, but it’s hardly the solution to all the world’s woes, especially as the NSA and associated industries keep working every day to break whatever works for us.

Meanwhile inequality keeps rising, the climate keeps getting worse, the US military empire keeps expanding, refugees keep dying, and bankster CEOs keep laughing.

What’s the end game? How do we put the genii back in the bottle? How do we save the planet? Will we all get out on the streets and protest? WHEN? How bad do things have to get before people take action, and what kind of action can we take that will lead to lasting, peaceful and positive change?

We keep waiting for our so-called leaders to do the right thing. But these are the same people protecting the War Criminals who brought us here.

I am tired of watching the world go backwards. I am tired of the violence and lies. We need answers. Now.