A Few Thoughts on War
My president held a brief press conference yesterday afternoon to update the public on the state of war. That is, the war he, along with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, has waged these past days against Iran.
During his presentation the president called the war an excursion. There is no way to tell how many people have died so far in this war. There is no way to calculate the destruction of infrastructure this war has caused--so far. There is no way to judge the toll on the world economy this war has taken. Or the ecological impact of the war.
I speak in the past tense. But this war is not over, although it seems my president is already weary of the 'excursion'. He said at one point in the press conference that the war was 'complete'.
In what universe does he operate? Is it a universe where people bend to his whims? Where he rarely hears the word 'no'? Where he is praised, for anything? For nothing?
Does he believe he can raise his hand and grandly say, "I've had enough, it's over"? He does not even remotely grasp the forces he has set in motion. He can see only his part of this conflict. His will.
My president is rather pampered, so it seems he expects that war, like everyone around him, will bend to that will.
When Donald Trump regards other people he apparently projects onto them his own motivation. The president is consistently described as 'transactional'. By that I believe people mean, for him, everything is a negotiation. It's a dynamic of What can I get, what can you get, what kind of deal can we make that profits both of us?
It apparently has not occurred to the president that Iranians may be willing to lose a great deal in order to protect their idea of sovereignty and their autonomy as a nation. For the Iranians, transaction may not be about any material thing the president can offer them.
So far, my country has lost seven soldiers to this war. Donald Trump assures that there will be more fatalities. It's pretty clear my country bombed a school and killed about 170 people, most of them children.
Anybody can start a war. It's pretty easy--just start bombing. Ending it...now that can be a bit of a challenge. This war has spread. It involves not only Israel, but also Lebanon and most of the Gulf region. It has gone beyond the Gulf region. Each one of the entities affected has a will, has its own idea of a just resolution.
And then there are all the other entities, those who feel profoundly wronged by the assassination of the Iranian's Supreme Leader. We see disquiet in Iraq, in Pakistan, in any country that has a significant Shia population.
And what about those so-called 'sleeper cells'? Cadres of actors who will, or want to, inflict terror across the world. Will these elements be motivated now to strike, to inflict more harm because of Donald Trump's 'excursion'?
I'm not an analyst. I'm just a woman who is watching world events and who has read about wars from time immemorial.
I remember WWI, which was suppose to last a few weeks. That war swallowed two empires, redrew the map of Europe and killed many millions. The war that was supposed to last weeks became known as the Great War.
If only my president knew more about history. If only more people said no to him, so that he could be comfortable with opposition. If only the enablers who surround him found courage, somewhere, somehow, to offer resistance.
I hope I'm wrong about the war. I hope the obvious is not true. I hope this war is different from all other wars, that it does not have a will of its own.
Even if I am wrong, though, what has the war cost us already? How much of our national treasure has been spent on Donald Trump's military adventure? How much good will have we lost? How will other nations deal with our increasingly mercurial leader? Where does this military episode us on the world stage?
As always, I end my blog with the wish that the U. S. war with Iran will end, and I wish for peace. May there be peace here, in my country, and everywhere.
The Collage
This was inspired, obviously, by ongoing events. I borrowed elements from Pixabay. I used GIMP to create some effects (fire, smoke, etc.). Anyone on Hive who feels moved to create a collage for this community, as I was moved this week, may do so at any time. The rules are provided on our prompt posts, like this one.
Elements Borrowed
Pixabay
Pexels
Field
Pixabay
Pexels
Boy
Pixabay
CarolineandtheSuperkids
Young child running
Pixabay
David Lang
Children Running
Pixabay
TheDigitalArtist
Bomb
Pixabay
War planes
Sunriseforever
Pixabay
Paratroopers
Defence-Images'
Dear @agmoore !
Ma'am!
East Asians like me think Trump will lose in the midterm elections!
I hope you are right... If we have elections :(
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STOPTrump does Trump things.. pretty stupid things. pretty heartless things. :(
It does seem so, doesn't it?
It makes you realize how serious war is and how much it affects people and countries. I hope for peace and a way to solve conflicts without more suffering
Yes! Any decent person should hope for the same.
I seen some of his speech from channels, and I'm always speechless from what I read, i can't belive it's true what I'm reading
I don't see it similar to ww1, but I can see it last long, US and Israel will not put boots on the ground, how can the regime collapse if Iranians don't uprise?
Russia-Ukraine is very similar to ww1 on the other hand, meat grinder
It is similar only in that nobody knows what will happen. Trump and Netanyahu have opened a can of worms. They cannot control what happens now. They thought they could. What will the consequences of this war be? I don't know. Nobody knows. In that sense it is like WWI, or Vietnam, or Russia's war with Ukraine. Once the shooting starts and people die, what happens? No one knows for sure.
I also think they expected Iranians to rise and end this quick, like Russia in Ukraine, but if this war last a year the economies will collapse
There obviously was no understanding of the Iranians before this thing started. Trump can't stay in the war. No appetite for it in this country. Elections coming. He's got to find a way to save face and get out.
Saw this one, I think sums it pretty much, he will somehow get out and claim he saved the world while achieving nothing
I love that image - very cool. As cool as war can be, I suppose. Not the right choice of word.
If only more people would refuse to be a party to this whole crazy system. To risk everything to stand up for what is right. Problem is I guess 'their' sense of 'right' is not ours.
So many of us are so worried about what's next, what's coming. It's certain not stability. He is delusional if he think he can call it over and that it will be so. And we are probably delusional to think that when his reign is over, it will be any better. The centre cannot hold.
But he is. He is not stable. What a dangerous ego. And my country (not me!) handed him all that power. The world has never really been stable for long. Something about the human race--competition? aggression? boredom?--drives people (collectively) to conflict. The center never holds because we are a restless species.
Thank you for liking my picture. AI does such smooth renditions that my awkward animation looks crude by comparison. But it is made from strong emotion, and I think that's the important part of what humans create.
Creation from emotion is powerful indeed. If only we could create not destroy - the great cycle of death and life play out so terribly. If we could only be content instead of reaching for more at such terrible expense. And honestly, we are mad at Americans who voted that fucksticle in.
The collage is brilliant. I'd entitle it simply 'LIFE'.
I don't think there'll be any peace. Could the message be any clearer than renaming the Department of Defence as the Department of War?
Thank you!! It says what I want it to say. Perhaps flawed, inelegant, but it's human, not an AI generated slick production :)
There won't be peace. That man who heads the department (Hegseth) is truly an idiot. I don't know exactly what's wrong with him, but he really should not be in control of anything.
There's big money in war, and this administration is all about the money.
I saw this on the news this morning and could not believe what I heard. How do the parents who lost their sons feel?
It's an awful, awful war Trump started!
Your collage tells it how it must feel on the ground, beyond terrifying!
😟
All those deaths, all those injuries...they are not numbers. Each one of them is a person, with a life. The picture is not smooth, like an AI creation, but it reflects the way I imagine children must feel with bombs falling from the sky.
It's just awful having to live like that at such a young age!
I'm saddened and truly speechless. Just when I thought Trump couldn't do a dumber thing...
You summed it up well what I've heard and read. The U.S. has lost all credibility I feel. Thanks for sharing your design and words. Take care.
Unfortunately, I was correct. The war is spiraling. He has not control. No idea. What a horrible place we are in, with a fool leading the march into the March into disaster. A fool and a megalomaniac.
Take care, my friend.
You are correct when you say that we are in a horrible place; a maze when the blind is leading the stupid. The people he chose to surround himself with in a "fool's cabinet" have no clue of world affairs or how to conduct themselves on the world stage. The U.S. is the most horrible joke gone wrong. I just hope it ends well for all countries. I'm so proud of those countries who've pushed back with "No Thank You".
The dictators of the world couldn't cajole past presidents into making such a move. But they've found the perfect idiot to control. I'm reminded of a story I read, but haven't been validated, that stated his mother warned against him ever coming into true power that it would be a sad day. If it's true, then Mother knows best.
Take care.
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard of his latest SNAFU comment about Mueller. I swear someone should tell that man to engage his brain before opening his mouth. But then he has to have a release for all the hatred and bigotry he's carried around all his life.
How low America has sunk