The image of those people sitting around a dinner discussing, deciding upon a raid in Yemen has me thinkin’ about a smoky basement with us hovered over 8 by 8 feet of plywood; greened, landscaped, and heavy on the edges with Napoleonic Era figures in battle formations. It was the eve of a great battle to see who would command the river-cut valley below, and the once insignificant town near the center. This war could be said to hinge on this action.
[RoboWar kills civilians more easily now, as any escalation of technology will tend to do, as one side gains the temporary advantage (Until The Other matches it and the race is on again). It helps to keep the definition of Morality fluid.]
At the dinner: Trump, CIA Director, Natl. Security Advisor Mike Flynn, secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, trump’s son-in-law, I think…
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“U.S. military officials told Reuters that Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support, or adequate backup preparations. As a result, three officials said, the attacking SEAL team found itself dropping onto a reinforced Al Qaeda base defended by landmines, snipers, and a larger than expected contingent of heavily armed Islamist extremists.” http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/u-s-military-sources-criticize-trump-approved-yemen-strike.html
The White House said it was a success. It was actually a bloody mess. Perhaps they were acting on stale intelligence. Whatever!
This insistence that power/violence is the answer has persisted longer than it needs to. We have evolved to the point at which we are now able to see many paths; that the non-violent paths lead to more peaceful tomorrows. There is a cost, of course.
There’s always a cost, and this change will be very expensive, probably more expensive in dollars than the current path. Enormous amounts of cash... What’s different about compassionate non-violent solutions is that the people who pay most of the cost for progress are different from the people who usually pay for technological-competition-political solutions. There’s enough cash out there to get this done. This one falls on the super-rich. Oh, my.
The lasting peace cannot come until we are all treated compassionately, justly, equally. #Resist
February 2, 2017 Bruce Wallace 121Contact
