{"id":207339,"date":"2022-03-21T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=207339"},"modified":"2022-03-18T05:29:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T05:29:57","slug":"transcending-the-certainties-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/03\/transcending-the-certainties-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Transcending the Certainties of War"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>16 Mar 2022 – <\/em>Peace, in the deepest sense \u2014 in the midst of war \u2014 requires a clarity and courage well beyond the boundaries of linear understanding. The warning lights flash. World War III has entered the red zone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Can we stare into hell and refuse to see . . . an enemy?<\/p>\n

This is the deep, haunting need that is now required, as we clutch tomorrow, hold it tight, vow to protect it with our lives. But it\u2019s far too easy, instead, to surrender to a certainty that the other guy \u2014 Russia, with the smirking face of Vladimir Putin \u2014 is 100 percent wrong, acting solely out of greed and delusional grandeur, which is something we<\/em> would never do (and have never done). And it goes without saying we are blameless in all this. On with the show!<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty-four hour cable news coverage of the ugly war in Ukraine is keeping Americans hyped up and dumbed down,\u201d<\/em> writes Gerry Condon<\/a> of Veterans for Peace. \u201cThe very real horror of war is on the screen for all to see. The bombed-out buildings, the mounting civilian casualties and the frightened refugees speak their own truth.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

None of this horror should be minimized, bandaged over, for the sake of \u201cpeace,\u201d as cynics assume. But, as Condon notes, \u201cwe rarely see the victims, the grieving families and the terrified refugees when the invader is the U.S. The \u2018shock and awe\u2019 U.S. terror bombing campaign on Baghdad was described by one network TV anchor as a \u2018beautiful thing to see.\u2019\u201d<\/em> We also fail to notice three decades of Western minimization of Russian concerns \u2014 of Russian existence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to spurn the possibility of peaceful coexistence with Russia at the end of the Cold War is one of the most egregious crimes of the late 20th century,\u201d <\/em>writes Chris Hedges<\/a>. Instead, he notes, we spiraled into \u201ca furious frenzy of the Russia-hating that has been central to US culture ever since World War II.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is not about blame, but it is about accountability \u2014 in all directions. Peace! It\u2019s an ongoing, collective process, a crucial force needed especially in the midst of conflict. It\u2019s about bridging gaps, listening to everyone, creating the future. A conflict isn\u2019t simply \u201csolved,\u201d but understood and transcended. In this context, meet Yurii Sheliazhenko<\/a>, executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, a board member of the European Bureau of Conscientious Objection and a member of the board of directors at World BEYOND War.<\/p>\n

Speaking from Kyiv with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez of Democracy Now!, Sheliazhenko \u2014 in an incredible interview \u2014 tells the world that there is no military solution to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. More than that, he describes how peace as a force is confronting the invasion:<\/p>\n

\u201c. . . brave Ukrainian civilians are . . . blocking streets and blocking tanks, just staying in their way without weapons. . . . to stop the war. In Berdyansk city and Kulyk\u0456vka village, people organized peace rallies and convinced the Russian military to get out.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite what we may learn from media coverage, there are ways to confront war, to confront hell, without participating in it. Sheliazhenko does not speak abstractly. What is necessary right now is not the cancellation of Russia but a unification of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWar profiteers of the West are the same threat to democracy as the authoritarian rulers of the East,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of breaking the last bonds of humanity out of rage, we need more than ever to preserve and strengthen venues of communication and cooperation between all people on Earth, and each individual effort of that sort has a value.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every last soul on this planet is a participant in the peace process! This is a message emerging from Ukraine. What\u2019s needed in this moment, of course, is a negotiated ceasefire, a Russian pullout. To that end, here\u2019s part of the text of a letter Code Pink has written to President Biden and Congress (your signature welcome<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no military solution to the conflict over Ukraine, a country caught in the crossfire between the U.S. and Russia, the world\u2019s two most heavily armed nuclear nations. While the U.S. and the world are rightfully denouncing Putin\u2019s invasion of a sovereign country, the shelling of civilians, the destruction of homes and hospitals, and threats of nuclear attacks, the major role the U.S. has played in exacerbating the conflict that led up to Russia\u2019s invasion must also be acknowledged and addressed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBy breaking promises not to expand NATO into Eastern Europe, by placing offensive missiles in Romania and Poland that could reach Russia in minutes, by arming Ukrainian forces, by continuing to \u2018modernize\u2019 the U.S. nuclear arsenal and by withdrawing from key nonproliferation treaties, the U.S. exacerbated the conflict that led up to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. We know that Russia must withdraw its troops and commit to respecting the sovereignty of Ukraine, but the United States must be ready to make compromises and support negotiations between Ukraine and Russia …\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The letter concludes with a list of commitments the U.S. needs to make to help a negotiated ceasefire happen. Here\u2019s what I would add, in solidarity with Yurii Sheliazhenko: Sign \u2014 and honor \u2014 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons<\/a>! It\u2019s time to step into the future, fellow residents of Planet Earth. Nuclear weapons are not a \u201cdeterrent.\u201d They\u2019re either an accident waiting to happen or a geo-psychopath\u2019s last result. And the time to tuck them into history and move toward real peace is N-O-W. We can turn the invasion into the spark for global salvation.<\/p>\n

Noting that the European Union is considering opening its doors to Ukraine, Sheliazhenko expressed joy at the possibility of such a uniting, but added that a \u201cconsolidation of the West should not be a consolidation against a so-called enemy, against the East. East and West should find the peaceful reconciliation and should pursue global governance, unity of all people in the world without armies and borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

______________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Robert C. Koehler is an award-winning, Chicago-based peace journalist and nationally syndicated writer. His book, <\/em>Courage Grows Strong at the Wound (Xenos Press) is still available. Contact him at koehlercw@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0Go to Original \u2013 commonwonders.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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