War: Will We Ever Learn?

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The concept of war has been present in human civilisation for as far back as history stretches. From conflicts that happened centuries ago, to more recent ones, there are a myriad of a different reasons humans have gone to war. In fact there’s really only one constant each time armies are gathered to fight against an enemy, real or imagined, and that is that man has knowingly and willingly put the lives of other humans on the line.

What do I mean by that? Simply and topically, considering Remembrance Sunday has just passed, we do not learn. The very essence of Remembrance Sunday is to remember the individuals who died while at war: to remember and learn. Is there any point in remembering the dead at all if we do not learn from our past mistakes?

The day becomes worth very little if we do not look at the pain and hurt that was inflicted on both soldiers and civilians and take away a valuable lesson of the complete futility of war.

Ask Not For Whom The Wall Falls

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We are now in the midst of commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, which was followed in short order by the collapse of the Soviet Union and its entire international system.

I say “commemorate,” but when it comes to the collapse of the wall and enormous Soviet system, the word most people use is “celebrate.” But here I would interject an ancient Spanish folk proverb which goes, “when you see your neighbor’s beard on fire, put your beard to soak;” or the not so ancient but equally valid American saying, “what goes around, comes around.”

In my opinion the most unbiased, irrefutable, undeniable take-away from the collapse of the USSR and its entire ideological superstructure is that huge, powerful, complex and historically successful systems, which have embodied the hopes and dreams of several generations of people all around the world, can just up and die with little or no warning … Soon to be playing in theaters near you.

The Guardian’s Endorsement of the Palestinian Tragedy Or The “Balfour Declaration”

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The little known episode of the publication of the ‘Balfour Declaration’ assists an independent, curious and rational observer in acknowledging the all too modern roots of the Palestinian tragedy.

Unbeknownst to many in this conflict is the wide support the Balfour Declaration received from the British media and populace. Leading from the front, the liberal Guardian newspaper came out, in racist and imperialist terms, in support of the declaration.

One could easily and validly argue that the British Empire’s Balfour Declaration issued on 2nd November 1917 in a letter from the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour, to Baron Walter Rothschild, is the central founding bloc of the current Palestinian predicament. The so-called ‘declaration of sympathy’ is no more than 67 words, yet in terms of the inevitable warring consequence, they are among the 67 most bloodiest words in history.

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