During the Second World War my dad went in hiding to escape being sent to Germany to work for the Nazi war-machine, while his dad, who was a captain in the merchant navy, and briefly a colonel in the Dutch navy defending Java, ended up in a Japanese prison-camp during the better half of the war. My mom once rescued her brother, who had been taken by the Germans from a police-station, pretending she was his pregnant wife, while the family was hiding people inside their home from the Germans. None of that reflects on me. But the stories inspired my thinking.
Back in the day of the Vietnam War I voiced my opposition loud and clear, while an uncle of mine, not all that much older, fought in that war on the American side after being drafted. After everything was said and done, we saw eye to eye on what caused that war, and that it was cynical abuse of power which had brought it along. Still, my opinion was formed in the comfort of being at a safe distance, while he simply had no real choice but to serve. He had been sixteen when he was summoned to present himself for duty, as a recently arrived citizen traveling with his mother, my step-grandmother, who had returned to the US after her husband, my grandfather, died.
During every recent war fought by 'coalition of the willing'-countries inside NATO, which invariably included my country of birth, the Netherlands, I was critical, despite being an officer in the 'reserve forces', because non of those wars were defensive wars. But I, nor my sons, were drafted, and those wars were 'lightyears' from home. To prevent misunderstandings: I do not sympathise with the likes of Bin Laden, which we groomed and fed ourselves, Gaddafi, or Saddam Hoessein. Assad is a somewhat different story, because he held 'liberal' views, but he got trapped by factions from the Muslim Brotherhood we supported, and which we recently brought to power in Syria. No doubt he, and those sections of the government he was responsible for, did horrible things in that proxy-war we kept going. But if he fought 'tooth and nail' against the likes of Bin Laden's legacy on his home turf, how does that compare to our 'drone killings' around the globe, accepting collateral against those same terrorist organisations?
As explained on these pages, 'winning' for me is succeeding in *preventing* a war. Which is why I focus on all these cynical monsters planning these wars, and throwing entire countries under the bus to increase their grip on the *world*. It is *always* the entire world they want to control. They will not rest until all resistance to their 'Liberal World Order' is broken. That is bad enough. But 'Liberal'?
In my book a 'liberal' is someone defending classic freedom of speech, thought, movement, assembly, in peace-time, only limited in their *actions* by 'common law', in which the word 'common' tells us that *every* individual will be held equally accountable in line with laws which treat *every* citizen in *exactly* the same way, and will assume innocence until *proven* guilty. In reality we are *nowhere* near that ideal today. We didn't 'drift' from those ideals, but we choose to limit free speech, freedom of thought, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, and to discriminate against certain groups in order to provide other groups with a 'leg up'.
If you want a 'leg up', think of yourself as being a victim, draw attention from the political class, and off you go. Before you know it you are appointed president of the EU. No need to convince voters. Now, go get them, Ursula! That particular example illustrates that it isn't even necessary that you belong to an *objectively* disadvantaged group. You only need to work hard to prove that merit-based selection criteria would politely show you the door if you would choose to apply. Lace your presentation with fine examples of having *no* skills, and being unable to observe diplomacy as a standard. Be as rude as you possibly can, and call for war!
This war we are in today is unlike *anything* that went before it. It is not truly a civil war, although the knives are being sharpened to kill dissenters within our own European, and NATO-ranks. It is no 'class war'. It is a total mess. There are no *real*, readily identifiable sides, only a scapegoat, Russia, in a desperate attempt to create a notion of unity, which is entirely absent, save for the political class. Glenn Diesen observed that in his own country, Norway, they had 169 representatives in Parliament, and not a *single* one of them was opposed to this ongoing, and still expanding war with Russia, using unfortunate Ukrainian men, dragged into vans to serve NATO's ambitions. Save for one tiny party it is the same thing in the Netherlands. Only in countries like Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech republic, France and Germany there is *real* opposition within the political class to this senseless war.
Yesterday I read that the UK, formally no longer part of the EU, but for all intents and purposes still an integral part of this 'experience', is preparing drone attacks on Russian oil and gas facilities, together with Ukraine, from all directions. According to that story, British 'diplomats' (are there still diplomats in that country?) will bring explosives and other crucial parts to locations near the Russian border. Ukrainians pretending *not* to be Ukrainians, will bring them into Russia, assemble them, and fire away at those facilities to create a monstrous problem for the climate and environment. While Trump 'okayed' the use of Tomahawk cruise missiles, *begging* Russia to strike back, and hit the US where it will hurt most.
So? What did this dad, and grandfather, yours truly, do during this 'forever war'? I kept saying, and writing, that we should stop this nonsense, before it is too late. Defending our 'Values'? Tell me all about it after you have come to your senses. This former compatriot of Zelensky, Arestovich, was asked what he would do if they decided to have elections again in Ukraine, and he would win, replacing Zelensky. He said he would immediately travel to Moscow, sign away those four Oblasts and Crimea, make Ukraine a neutral country between 'BRICS' and what will be left of the EU, and make a new start. Sounds like a far better plan than terminating all of humanity in an attempt to make the world 'one' under 'Our Rules', based on 'Our Values'. Yet, even if he won, NATO wouldn't be pleased, and list him as a traitor. In fact, they are doing that already, before he has had a chance to put it to the test by offering himself as a candidate to see what the *people* want. And me as well, for supporting his choice to stop this nonsense. They won't be able to explain why, apart from me not being a loyal slave to a war-machine. 'You are either with us, or you are against us!' Yeah, right…….