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Related:

• The “New Normal”: Where are We and Where are We Going? – (my old article from March 4th)

Comment:

I appreciate Mr. Hillier’s motivating story about the Korean war. As a mechanism for mobilization and supporting emotions, it was very appropriate. But I also have some concerns. One of our stated goals is freedom of speech. Freedom of speech only makes sense, when it allows people to seek and share the truth. Not legends, not propaganda, not re-written history.

The truth of the Korean war is somewhat different and I remember it well.

We did not go to Korea to help the Koreans gain freedom. As a matter of fact, we bombed them. The goal was to establish control over the waterway that Japanese and Chinese industries depended on for shipping their goods as well as importing energy resources (mainly from Persian Gulf) and minerals (mainly from Africa). This is why the Vietnam war took place, why we supported the Indonesian blockade with the chocking point in Singapore, why we supported separatists in Taiwan, why we are engaged in the conflict over the military islands in South China Sea, why our military is present in Persian Gulf, in the Gulf of Aden, and in Africa. This is also why we opposed the pro-Chinese developments in Myanmar (Burma) aimed at creating a shipment route bypassing the Indonesian blockade.

Likewise, we did not go to Afghanistan to help the Afghani women get education, we did not go to Iraq, or Syria, or Libya to help these “poor colour people” and punish the “bad dictators”. In fact, we went there on a pack of lies. We did not go to Panama or to Falkland Islands (Malvinas) for what we said we did. We went there to establish protection for our projected pipelines and/or to control shipping, so that we could control the economies of other countries and, indirectly, control their politics. Both of these goals were illegal, according to international law. (By “we” I mean NATO forces and/or Americans and American allies.)

There are many more examples of the same mechanism taking place around the world, for example the bombing and partition of former Yugoslavia, our support for the rebels in Chechnya, Dagestan and South Ossetia, our involvement in Moldova, Ukraine or the recent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, our part in the “pipeline corridors’ wars” in the Middle East, and the list goes on. In a nutshell, we went there because there was lots of lettuce to be made and potential political gains (for example, reducing Russian export of energy resources to Europe). We went there to help ourselves.

I frankly believe that we need to tell the truth, even if it is painful and shameful. Otherwise, we will commit the same mistakes over and over and we will not improve this world, the world that we are creating for our children and grandchildren. Hypocrisy is a tool to hide the truth. It is not a tool in seeking the truth. So is propaganda, even when it may have a desired short-term effect of boosting our patriotism. And this is another reason why we have to fight for our freedom – to have the right to know the truth. Even if it hurts in a short run, it will eventually help us establish friendly relationships with other countries and help us build a better world for all. We cannot do this, if we are manipulated and lied to.