We Must Not Demonize and Threaten Russia
… Nuclear War by Accident or Miscalculation? – Published on Countercurrents.org, by John Scales Avery, Jan 15, 2017.
In his famous farwell address, US President Dwight Eisenhower eloquently described the terrible effects of an overgrown military-industrial complex. Here are his words:
“We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions…. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence, economic, political, even spiritual, is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government…[and] we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
In another speech, he said: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.“
The devil’s dynamo: … //
… The military-industrial complex needs enemies: … //
… Nuclear war by accident or miscalculation: … //
… The duty of civil society:
Civil society must make its will felt. A thermonuclear war today would be not only genocidal but also omnicidal. It would kill people of all ages, babies, children, young people, mothers, fathers and grandparents, without any regard whatever for guilt or innocence. Such a war would be the ultimate ecological catastrophe, destroying not only human civilization but also much of the biosphere. Each of us has a duty to work with courage and dedication to prevent it.
Some suggestions for further reading: … //
(full text).
(John [Scales] Avery received a B.Sc. in theoretical physics from MIT and an M.Sc. from the University of Chicago. He later studied theoretical chemistry at the University of London, and was awarded a Ph.D. there in 1965. He is now Lektor Emeritus, Associate Professor, at the Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen. Fellowships, memberships in societies: Since 1990 he has been the Contact Person in Denmark for Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs [see also on en.wikipedia]. In 1995, this group received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. He was the Member of the Danish Peace Commission of 1998. Technical Advisor, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (1988- 1997). Chairman of the Danish Peace Academy, April 2004. His Short Bio. He can be reached at avery.john.s@gmail.com).
Links:
UN ‘estimates’ death toll in Yemen war surpassed 10,000, on RT, Jan 17, 2017;
An educated girl is only worth five cows- RT documentary investigates child marriages in Tanzania, on RT, Jan 16, 2017: more than a third of all Tanzanian women are married before the age of 18, with many forced into wedlock as young as 11. The country’s High Court recently imposed strict penalties on underage weddings, but as RT’s documentary unit has discovered, attitudes on the ground are stubbornly clinging to old practices …;
(my comment: what is forgotten in these discussions: in many countries not married girls become pregnant around their 13th year, so any of these fathers take no responsibility, runs away and the grand’ma has to raise the children, while the girl goes for salary work to feed them. Forbid them wedding before their 18th year is not the best solution as long as you do not instruct the whole tribe – or at least the girl – in exact Birth control resp Family planning – Heidi);
was gesagt werden muss – KenFM, 23.49 min, von Christoper Ofelia am 16. Jan 2017;
America’s new Gulf of Tonkin: in the Red Sea, another excuse to invade Yemen, Syria, and then Iran, on Countercurrents, by Taj Hashmi, Oct 19, 2016;
again: Richard Wolff on Brexit, 30.52 min, uploaded by BGS IBMOR, July 4, 2016;
… and this:
- Celtic Music – BrunuhVille, 85.18 min, uploaded by BrunuhVille.