[Photo: Ruined homes in the U.S. battle in Falluja, Iraq. Christian Peacemaker Teams, Pressenza,]
By Mahboob Khawaja, PhD
Editor’s Note
War has always been a brutal devastation of life and land. That is what war is and only one earthly species engages in war – humans. Variations on “Truth is the first casualty of war” is attributed to a handful of people, but it appears that Samuel Johnson was the first as the following quote was found in The Idler of 1748: ‘Among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages.’ (Guardian) Why lie? Because the people would neither support nor fight in a war for the real purpose – the desires of those with power. All of this is to make note that the people (we, the supposed lessers in the broader scheme of things) know the real costs of war. However, we are lied to because the “leaders”, and those whose interests are served, cannot carry on these atrocities without us because they damn well don’t want to do their own dirty work.
Let’s circle back to humans and war because I can hear the grumbling about meerkats, mongooses, and chimpanzees. Yes, some other creatures will fight over territory, or even swoop in and kill inhabitants in their dens. But somehow it lacks the organization and scale that humans bring to war. Humans, at least Western humans, have gone so far as to frame every possible competitor as an enemy that must be obliterated whether they are competitors for food or land, or simply seen as nuisances, to the bacteria. Our quest to kill all gems in their figurative cribs has led to an ever-expanding list of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
When will we, whichever “we” we are discussing, realize that we (either humanity, or a single nation, or a single race, or perhaps only the top .01%) cannot be the only living things on the planet? For if that is the case then those lives will be shot indeed.
Mahboob Khawaja, PhD
The G-7 Disconnects from the Sense of One Humanity
Can you cure political cynicism with intellectual foresight? The G-7 used to be a G-8 and included Russia, but since 2014 it changed to an exclusive club of like-minded America-European think tanks for their own politics and future-making. They share self-centered political interests and values but not a belief in the sanctity of human life grounded in the tenets of One Humanity – the equality of human beings, justice, respect for others, and being open to listening and learning to manage the phenomenon of change and sustainable future. If Russia was still an 8th member of the club, a reasoned dialogue could have emerged to end the war between Russia –Ukraine and follow it through with the restoration of normal relations between the adjacent cultures of thinking and actions. Despite the like-minded leaders’ deliberation, there were no much-needed initiatives reflecting a leader’s moral consciousness for peace and conflict resolution. They invited India, South Africa, South Korea, Brazil, and others who are in conflict with the US and European stance on the war; yet for economic and face-saving overtures, their presence is recorded and they do not offer any unanimity to the global community’s pursuits for peace and end of the conflict.
Humans’ disconnect from truth has caused many catastrophic disasters and contradictions to mislead global humanity. The military approach was high on the agenda. Does it mean that the G-7 leadership lacks imagination for a peaceful resolution of emerging conflicts? A reflective snapshot of a critical moment in time pulse in the movement of history reveals the absence of reasoned dialogue for the prevention of the ongoing conflict causing massive human casualties, displacement of millions of Ukrainian civilian refugees across Europe, destruction of essential civic infrastructures and furious competitive edge for success in an ugly war between Russia, the West, and Ukraine. To glance ahead to the emerging horrifying events coming out of the Russian-Ukraine war fronts, We, The People of global humanity must call for an immediate halt to all war machines and lingering suspicion of one-sided peace and triumph.
Sometimes Western cultures unimaginably look for remote movements of time and destiny for a navigational change. Often ferocious scenarios of good, evil, and wrong are used by policymakers to explain the contrasts of the present. Paul Craig Roberts (“The United States has been destroyed by its Ruling Elite.” 5/18/2023: Global research), claims that “the US is moving toward a fatal split in the society from which recovery is impossible.”
One wonders why the G-7 wanted to meet in Hiroshima. Political tyranny and oppression could not avert the bombing of Hiroshima. Arguably, civilizations and sustainable futures do not evolve out of the moral and intellectual mire of military conquests, cruelty, and imperialism. Were they thinking to change history and its encompassing realism? But the object of historic memory was not replaced with hope for the present or the future. They did nothing new to discard the old follies and restore a new sense of imagination for peace and harmony between the warring parties. The threat of lethal nuclear weapons is looming at the decision-making tables. The leaders could deny it as a working option, be it the Western or Russian.
Dropping Two Atomic Bombs was a Rush to Political Judgment
They have learned to destroy the Earth but not to protect its natural sanctity. Do the G-7 leaders know how the living Earth and the living Universe were created and function? Or that the Laws of Nature govern the global planetary systems? What relationship do Man and Humanity enjoin to the working of Earth and the larger Universe? Be aware oh-fellow human beings, we reside on a living Earth, not a dead entity -how the planet Earth exists and moves at its axis and rotates at 1675 km per hour or 465 meters per second is 1,040 miles per hour faster than the scientific imagination:
“Behold! in the creation of the Heavens and of the earth, and the alternation of the Night and Day, There are indeed Signs for men of understanding; Men who celebrate the praises of God, standing, and sitting and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of ) creation in the heavens and the earth with the thought): Our Lord! Not for naught Hast Thou created all this, Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the Penalty of the Fire.” (The Qur’an: Chapter 3: 190-191)
“And He created everything, and measured it in due proportion.” (The Quran: Chapter 25: 2). There is a moral sense of spirituality and humanity to co-exist in harmony with the rest of all creations on this Earth. Modern wars represent sadistic and cruel minds to undermine human rights, dignity, and life. They destroy all that is built over the ages that we call human cultures and civilizations. Using nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles and other WMDs destroys Earth and its capacity to sustain life, flow water, grow foods and produce oxygen necessary to support a sustainable future for all living things. Think again: Does the Earth not provide all that was needed by human intellect, scientific and technological progress, and changing times? Human beings were equipped by Nature with intelligence, not ignorance or arrogance.
After 78 years of the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, there is no will and defined system to question the aggressors for destroying the lives of millions. All wars have ripple effects as the Japanese continue to face the unraveling impacts of the first nuclear bomb. The victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki know first hand what is like to live in a man-made hell. Japan’s PM spoke of nuclear disarmament that is nowhere visible in the 21st century.
What the US did 78 years earlier, could conveniently be repeated by any parties to the conflict. Pat Elder (“Hiroshima and Nagasaki: American High School Textbooks Perpetuate The Big Lie” 8/08/2018, Global Research), describes it in the following narrative:
“Quite simply, President Truman dropped those bombs on a defeated Japan to tell the Russians and the world to back off. We had two bombs and we were going to use them. In a typically cavalier fashion, Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander, U.S. Third Fleet remarked, “It was a mistake to ever drop [the bomb]. . .they had this toy and they wanted to try it out, so they dropped it.”
Admiral William D. Leahy, the President’s Chief of Staff said, “The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.”
History is Living So How do We, the People Reflect on Humanity’s Grieving?
Professor Rodrigue Tremblay (“The Moral Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” Global Research: 8/09/2018), clarifies with the following quotes from the noted sources:
“As American Christians, we are deeply penitent …..the surprise bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are morally indefensible.” (The American Federal Council of Churches ‘Report on Atomic Warfare and the Christian Faith, 1946).
“It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan.” – “The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are frightening. (William Leahy, Chief of Staff to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (“I Was There”, p. 441).
If the G-7 leaders wanted a new beginning refuting the past imperialism and subjugation of the poor and vulnerable nations, they should have focused on specific workable strategies to call for an immediate ceasefire and dialogue between President Putin and President Zellensky. China is pursuing a plan for peacemaking and so are the few African countries taking the initiative to break the deafening silence between Russia and Ukraine. How come the G-7 has taken no strategic plan to end the conflict? What if the G-7 could replace their historic colonial cynicism with optimism and see the 21st century as a new world of opportunities and embrace the realism to seek peace between Israel and Palestine, between India and Pakistan on Kashmir; and take a global approach to climate change and harmonize socio-economic and humanitarian affairs for a sustainable future on this Earth. The unchallenged TRUTH arising from the emerging conflicts and leadership failures calls for new THINKING and New People with ideas and ideals who reject the violent assumptions of militarization and egoistic triumphs avoiding acts of genocidal plans. We the People of the globe ask conscientious leaders to avoid the upcoming epicenter of cataclysm and listen to voices of reason for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, stop the acceleration of military confrontations between Russia, NATO, America, the EU, and others. We are at the edge of REASON, war is anti-human.
We, the People, wish to rejoice in truth, not evil. We, the people of the globe possess an understanding – of how to change the egoistic and embittered insanity of the few hate-mongers and warlords into an equilibrium of balanced relationship between Man, Life, and the God-given living Universe in which we reside all. If the G-7 leaders were proactive people of REASON, they should have focused on a reasoned dialogue between Russia-Ukraine to end the war, not to extend the Crimes of War by all, against all.
Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and is the author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Germany, 12/2019.
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