[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [ufpj-activist] What Police Videos Teach Us About Wars

[stuartnlevy]

-------- Original message --------From: David Swanson <davidcnswanson at gmail.com> Date: 10/13/16  10:02  (GMT-06:00) To: David Swanson <david at davidswanson.org> Subject: [ufpj-activist] What Police Videos Teach Us About Wars 
What Police Videos Teach Us About Wars

			

				
				
				 By David Swanson
http://worldbeyondwar.org/police-videos-teach-us-wars/


Before people had an easy way to see video footage of police murders,
 headlines crediting the police with just and noble actions couldn’t be 
effectively questioned.
We’re still back there in the dark ages when it comes to war murders,
 but we can overcome the lack of quickly shared videos if we choose to. 
When the headlines celebrate some sort of “victory” in Mosul or anywhere
 else, we can point out that the videos of people being blown up in 
their houses would be truly horrific if we had them. This is not, after 
all, a point on which there can actually be any question.
The police who murder innocents say they serve a grander purpose of 
maintaining law and order. Watching the videos of what they do 
eliminates all possibility of taking that seriously.
The war makers say they serve a grander purpose of . . . well, it 
depends; sometimes it’s also law and order, other times spreading 
democracy, other times weapons elimination, other times simply revenge. 
Imagining the videos we aren’t seeing should help us understand why 
these justifications do not hold up.
The U.S. has, in recent years, bombed Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, 
Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. None of them is safer, less armed, 
more democratic, more peaceful, more prosperous, or less of a threat to 
others. Quite the contrary. “Defeating” ISIS by bombing people will fuel
 more suffering and violence, just as “defeating” the government of 
Saddam Hussein fueled ISIS.
Picture a woman in Mosul who lacks permission to go outside without a
 male guardian. Now picture that woman’s roof collapsing on her and her 
children with a thunderous crash and a cloud of dust. Is she better off?
 Do those who love her appreciate her “liberation”? Would the video be 
allowed on U.S. media outlets unless we shared it on social media as 
many times as we do a police video?
“One unfortunate incident.” “Collateral damage.” “A few bad apples.”
No. Police murder routinely and with immunity. Wars murder 
extensively, immorally, counterproductively, and illegally with 
immunity. There can be good policing. But there cannot be good war 
making. It’s all illegal under the U.N. Charter and the Kellogg-Briand 
Pact. The war on terrorism has been increasing terrorism for years. The 
U.S. government itself admits it has no idea who most of the people are 
that it murders with drones.
“So you’re on the side of the criminals.” “You must love ISIS.” “Putin LOVER!”
In fact, this childish retort is more common on the question of war 
and, tragically, is sometimes fueled by a grain of truth. Even so-called
 peace groups have fallen for the “pick a side” routine on Syria for 
years. I know people opposed to U.S. war-making in Syria but not to the 
U.S. providing weapons to others. I know people opposed to both of those
 things but not to Syrian government war-making with help from Russia 
and others. I know people opposed to Syrian and Russian war-making but 
not to anything directed at overthrowing the Syrian government. I know 
people in favor of war against ISIS but not against Syria. I know people
 in favor of any war making armed and funded by Saudi Arabia or Qatar or
 Turkey but not by the United States or Russia. I could list 18 more 
variations, all from people claiming — as does the Pentagon — to favor 
peace.
I oppose war in the way I oppose dueling or blood feuds, not by 
supporting one side. I oppose the U.S.-led arming of Western Asia the 
way I oppose pushing heroin in poor neighborhoods, not by wanting 
particular people to get it all. I oppose murder by police or soldiers 
in the way that I oppose capital punishment — that is: not because 
videos make my social media browsing unpleasant, but because people’s 
lives are being taken.
It’s time we put an end to war as if we could see it.

-- 



David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015 and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.
Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook. 


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