{"id":29580,"date":"2013-06-03T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=29580"},"modified":"2015-05-06T12:52:56","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T11:52:56","slug":"war-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2013\/06\/war-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"War Dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

3 June 2013 – <\/i>In the last two weeks there have been articles on Syria, first by TRANSCEND Media Service editor Antonio C. S. Rosa [Here]<\/a> and then by Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire [Here]<\/a>. Both excellent articles, where we learnt a lot about the suffering of thousands,\u00a0 millions of Syrians, their desperate need for peace and security, the plight of the refugees, their need for money, food, medicines and much more. We read, especially from Mairead Maguire, how the war in Syria is a proxy war.<\/p>\n

I wholeheartedly agree with her. Syrians face a \u201cproxy war\u201d, but then all wars are proxy wars, even when they appear not to be. To give just one example: USA, UK, most of the NATO countries in Iraq and Afghanistan are also in \u201cProxy Wars\u201d.\u00a0 This reality does not stop there; the governments of the three countries I mentioned – Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan \u2013 as well as the governments of all countries where Games of War are played – are the other players in these proxy wars.<\/p>\n

Governments create and \u201cperform\u201d wars on behalf of the War and Refugee Industry, of war financing banks or brokers, of oil and media barons, of the security and construction industries, and so on. The fact that people lose their kin, their loved ones, their limbs, their homes, their life, is just the unintended \u2013 and inevitable \u201ccollateral damage\u201d; just like the side effects of a drug. However, contrary to a doctor who could tell the patient, \u201cSorry, you must be allergic to one of the ingredients in this drug\u201d, then prescribe a different medication, governments cannot offer alternatives. Death, devastation, destruction, are their aims.<\/p>\n

To them, the more people die, the greater their success – ($$$$). The more buildings destroyed the better for their sponsors in the building industry. The more refugees politicians manage to create, the happier the manufacturers of tents, folding furniture, mobile kitchens and toilets, cooking and eating utensils specially designed for refugee camps, etc, etc.\u00a0War is\u00a0the best possible publicity for bomb factories, the best and \u201conly\u201d, as they cannot advertise in magazines or television, like other products. The greatest the destruction caused by bombs, the greatest the security of their manufacturers of receiving new and lucrative orders. The whole scenario is about the balance of power and finance, \u201cnever\u201c the pursuit of Peace, Justice and Human Rights.<\/p>\n

All these commercial concerns \u201cneed\u201d wars in order to make a living. We should not forget that those involved in the war industry and related businesses are, as I mentioned above, the big donors to political parties and even to specific politicians. It is to them that government owe favours, not to teachers, nurses, students, bus drivers, farm workers, chefs and waiters, musicians, actors, locomotive drivers, etc.\u00a0 These groups are always \u201casking\u201d governments for money, better salaries, better working conditions, more holidays, etc.; unlike the other group, that \u201cgives\u201d, both cash and in kind. The arms industry, banks, etc, donate money, oil barons give oil, or sell at reduced prices; Media tycoons help politicians reach power.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written this because of the outrage in many sectors, in recent days, after the British government announced it will arm the \u201crebels\u201d in Syria. (Why don\u2019t they mention the millions of \u00a3s already made thanks to the \u201crebels\u201d?) Anyway, what I want to say is: if the foreign mercenaries can be armed, it is because \u201creal\u201d negotiations have taken place with the Syrian government. This is what embassies, diplomats, secret services, exist for: to \u201cdialogue\u201d on how to achieve war and to negotiate the terms. All for their own benefit.<\/p>\n

One thing is very clear: if the Syrian government did not want a Civil War, not even a single bullet would have reached the hands of the so called rebels.<\/p>\n

Military campaigns are not improvised. They require years of preparation. I remember when in 1980 my friends said my prediction \u2013 two years before it happened – of the Falklands War, was far-fetched, impossible even. But I could see how it was being concocted, by both governments. \u00a0The same applies to the tragic situation of Palestinians. Yasser Arafat died a multi-millionaire, for \u201cnot\u201d allowing the problem to be solved. The list of \u201cclearly\u201d concocted and negotiated wars between the \u201cplayers\u201d in each war is too long, for this forum, so I\u2019ll stop here, as I\u2019m sure there are many other pieces you wish to read.<\/p>\n

However, I\u2019d just like add one detail: \u201cWeapons and Money have No Political Colour.\u201d This means mixing the subject of War and Peace with Right or Left politics, is an utter waste of time.<\/p>\n

__________________________<\/p>\n

Alberto Portugheis is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment. By profession a concert pianist and pedagogue www.apion.org.uk\/tapsim<\/a>,\u00a0he\u00a0is an\u00a0active peace campaigner, whose anti-military stance \u00a0earned him\u00a0a nomination\u00a0\u00a0for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.\u00a0As a result,\u00a0Portugheis wrote,\u00a0\u201cDear Ahed\u2026..The Game of War and a Path to Peace\u201d\u00a0– a book that has received critical acclaim http:\/\/www.dearahed.co.uk<\/a>.\u00a0He contributes regularly to Twitter and has many followers.\u00a0Some of his thoughts, ideas\u00a0and reflections,\u00a0which express only the desire \u201cto make people think\u201d and not take for granted what they read, \u201cno matter where\u201d, can be found in his blog http:\/\/portugheis.livejournal.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3 June 2013 – In the last two weeks there have been articles on Syria, first by TRANSCEND Media Service editor Antonio C. S. Rosa and then by Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire. Both excellent articles, where we learnt a lot about the suffering of millions of Syrians. However, I\u2019d just like add one detail: \u201cWeapons and Money have No Political Colour.\u201d This means mixing the subject of War and Peace with Right or Left politics, is an utter waste of time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-transcend-members","category-militarism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}