Bear With Me

“And all this madness, all this rage, all this flaming death of our civilization and our hopes, has been brought about because a set of official gentlemen, living luxurious lives, mostly stupid, and all without imagination or heart, have chosen that it should occur rather than that any one of them should suffer some infinitesimal rebuff to his country’s pride.” -Bertrand Russell

It’s good to have goals when fighting a war. At least that’s what I’ve been hearing for a while now. I imagine that objectives are important, planning is important, a clear reason for entering a conflict where lives will be on the line is important. Though I suppose the best laid plans can be challenged by a tenacious enemy.

The temptation among some is to immediately go on the offensive, but it has never been clear to me why someone would want to start a war—unless it is a last resort, and intended to force the issue of independence and relief from oppressive rule.

I’m sure there are those who would say that war is a part of life, that war is inevitable, even necessary. I included the quote from Bertrand Russell in a much earlier post, but brought it back here because Russell was referring to the insanity of WWI, the absolute depravity of war in general, along with the often-vacuous, vain, imbecilic and selfish reasons behind fomenting such violence.

Some things, sadly, haven’t changed, and we find ourselves still dealing with conflicts around the world. Our current involvement in Iran weighs heavy on anyone who’s had enough of this nonsense, who may wonder how long it will be until we turn a corner on such primal urges, such costly gaffs.

Apparently, it will be a while yet.

To add insult to injury, Donald Trump and the cast of inept sycophants around him appear to have started a war as a distraction, with no clear objectives and little planning except as it serves Benjamin Netanyahu’s goals.

Trump is one of those official gentlemen of which Mr. Russell spoke– indeed living a luxurious life, mostly stupid, without imagination or heart, thin-skinned, easily offended, and so lacking in decency that he thinks nothing of sending our troops into harm’s way if it helps avert the world’s gaze from his and the Heritage Foundation’s depraved agendas.