Dude, Where’s My Country?

W.J. Astore

Peace Through Strength!

As a retired U.S. military officer, I’m appalled at the notion of “peace through strength.” You may as well say “war is peace.” Peace is achieved through dialogue. Diplomacy. Engagement. A spirit of good will. It isn’t achieved by brandishing weapons while selling the same around the globe. (The U.S. dominates the global arms trade, accounting for nearly half of it.)

I’m also outraged by the ongoing militarism of this moment, whether it’s Kamala Harris celebrating military lethality and embracing the Cheneys in 2024 or the Trump crowd that embraces “warriors” and “warfighters.” The solemn tradition of the citizen-soldier has long been abandoned in the U.S., replaced as it has been by a mercenary mindset that sees war as permanent and therefore “normal,” even admirable.

Even as we’re essentially being told and sold “war is peace,” we’re also being told and sold that ethnic cleansing in Gaza is urban renewal, a prelude to a new Riviera, a new playground for the rich, even if it’s erected on the bones of millions of Palestinians. Obviously, this cleansing of genocide using the imagery of crass and vulgar tourism must be condemned in no uncertain terms.

Put colloquially, I often wonder, Dude, where’s my country?

Explore Gaza, by Mr. Fish (at Chris Hedges’ Substack)

2 thoughts on “Dude, Where’s My Country?”

  1. … this is a totally-fucked-up-world… pardon-my-French
    … we’ve turned the entire-American-mindset-mercenary

    … how we live in this world, is to give up ourselves
    … you want what these guys are sellin… just keep your trap shut

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    1. Gaza too, is another area of considerable conflict. It has suffered enormously from bombs which have obliterated its school, residences, hospitals and universities and caused 50,000 deaths. Trump believes it is acceptable to transfer 2 million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, But this is a misunderstanding of the relationship which Palestinians have with their ancestral land. Trump’s lack of support for a Palestinian State contrasts with the 146 member states of the U.N., (including Ireland and Norway) who are in agreement with a Palestinian State.

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