When it comes to opposing war, environmentalists should be in front of the line. Here’s why.
War starts with a bad idea. Long before shots are fired or bombs are dropped, we buy into a family of bad ideas that distort our role in the world and hide the relevant ethics.
Recently, peace activist Medea Benjamin, a hero of mine, came to my city of Louisville, Kentucky. If there is a bolder or more articulate voice for peace in America today, I don’t know who it is. Medea spoke about the two foremost armed conflicts today, the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza.
I spoke with Medea briefly before she went on stage. Quickly, the conversation turned to the environmental impact of war. We compared notes about how many environmentalists are not on board with a message of peace. She told me, for example, that the famed environmentalist Bill McKibben has refused to sign a petition calling for a negotiated peace to the war in Ukraine.
That petition reads in part:
“As peace-loving citizens of the world, we urge you to support an immediate ceasefire and negotiated peace in Ukraine…. Skeptics argue there’s no point in trying to negotiate with Russia President Vladamir Putin because he’s not interested in peace talks. In a recent speech, however, Putin said he wanted Ukraine and Russia to immediately return to the negotiating table.”
https://www.codepink.org/ukrainepetition
Given how war is so environmentally destructive, one can only speculate as to why a leading environmentalist won’t sign a petition urging peace.
But if you’re American, you have been surrounded by the message that war is heroic, and besides, we’re the good guys. The world is full of bad people who are jealous of us and want to take what we have. They have no conscience and will only respond to force and violence, we are told.
One reason we are surrounded by these messages is that war is big business. And the businesses that profit from war know how to cultivate the right narrative, the narrative that says we are good and our enemies are bad.
Local Environmentalist Contributes to Prowar Narrative
After Medea’s talk, during the Q&A, a local environmentalist approached the microphone. She said, in effect, you can’t negotiate with Putin. I did not record her exact words, but it was not the first time I have heard this person express righteous indignation related to Putin. And this is Louisville’s most visible climate leader.
I guess she thinks that we (in the U.S.) are eminently reasonable. We don’t want to fight, but we will if we have to. And we have the moral authority to sit in judgment on other countries and their leaders.
We oppose wars of aggression, so the story goes. We are just defending ourselves. And we are here to defend other people whom we deem to be the innocent victims of other countries’ aggression. We are willing to defend our allies--and our allies are always the good guys.
Let’s Compare Our Beliefs With the Facts of History
To believe in our lofty self-image, you have to overlook our invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, and the Saudi-led, U.S. supported genocide in Yemen, which is temporarily on pause, thanks only to a peace deal brokered by China and no thanks to the US. We have conducted these military operations since 2000, roughly the time that Putin has been in power.
Go back to the first Cold War, and the US did a lot more damage than the Soviet Union, possibly by a factor of ten. This is especially true in the post-Stalin era of the Cold War (1953-1991).
You have to look at Korea (early 1950s), Vietnam (1955-1975), Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), Nicaragua (1980s), Grenada (1983), Panama (1989), the first Gulf War (1991) and Indonesia (1965).
Korea and Vietnam were major wars by any standards, where the deaths numbered in the millions. The first Gulf War was relatively short and did not create many American casualties, but 200,000 Iraqis died. Nicaragua generated tens of thousands of deaths, overwhelmingly civilians.
And these wars were all optional. They were all preventable. They were not wars of defense. They were wars of aggression, and “we” were the aggressor.
Americans Don’t Know What Happened in Indonesia
How many Americans are even aware that the US was responsible for at least 500,000 to 1,000,000 or more deaths in Indonesia in 1965. Working with the CIA, the Suharto regime slaughtered possibly a million or more “communist” civilians. In so doing, we violated the democracy of Indonesia, as well as its people.
Most Indonesians who died in 1965 were accused of being part of a political party called PKI, which was left-leaning and fully participating in the democratic process in Indonesia. But the democratic process was not leading in the direction favored by Washington. So the CIA orchestrated a process that resulted in possibly a million or more people being arrested and murdered. An excellent book on this is The Jakarta Method, by Vincent Bevins.
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan carried on a murderous war against the duly elected Sandinista government in Nicaragua. That war was financed, partly with illegal arms sales to Iran, and partly by a drug trade, orchestrated by Oliver North and others, who helped flood US cities with crack cocaine. With a government like that, who needs terrorists and criminals? The definitive work on the drug dealing aspect of Iran-Contra Affair is Dark Alliance, by Gary Webb.
Most Americans are not aware of these historical realities, let alone demanding that our government make policy changes and make amends to those who were harmed.
So when people say, in so many words, “You can’t negotiate with Putin,” I say, compared to whom? Compared to us? Compared to what our country has been doing for our entire lifetime and beyond?
Someone might say, “Hart, why are you being so critical of our country? Why do you hate America?” But I don’t hate America. I love my country enough to expect much better.
The story of US intervention does not figure prominently in our history textbooks, or in our news or in our fictional media, such as TV, movies and novels. The average American has not been educated in the true history of our country.
My Miseducation
I know something about the miseducation of Americans because I was a miseducated American until 2018, when I turned 55. I had been the original flag-waving patriot. I was proud to be an American. I felt that our country had a unique role to play in the world: Spreading freedom and democracy. I knew we made mistakes, because, well, nobody’s perfect. But our mistakes are forgivable. We are doing the best we can. We are trying. And if we don’t stand up for freedom, democracy and human rights, who will?
What Happened in Chile in 1973?
I didn’t know the story of Salvador Allende and Agosto Pinochet.
If you had good history in school, or if you’re a history buff, you may have heard about the fascist dictator Agosto Pinochet in Chile. And you may have heard that in 1973, the dictator Pinochet replaced the popularly elected Salvador Allende. And you may even remember that the CIA helped Pinochet oust Salvador Allende. Yes, “we” (our leaders and our intelligence agency) went against democracy to install “our guy.”
This coup was orchestrated by President Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, who--in turn--were doing the bidding of mining corporations and the telecom giant ITT. The Pinochet regime was a brutal dictatorship in which thousands of Chileans were “disappeared.”
Thanks, United States. Thanks a lot for contradicting your stated values. Thanks for being against democracy.
But, just because that happened once doesn’t mean we’re bad. We just make mistakes.
But it didn’t just happen once. It has happened time after time after time. When you look into it, you’ll find that this is the rule and not the exception. “We” don’t really like democracy. We just say we do. Because what we do time after time is replace democratically elected leaders with ones who will be more agreeable to U.S. based corporations.
The First 9/11 Versus the Second 9/11
Chile’s Salvador Allende died on September 11, 1973 when pro-Pinochet and pro-US forces invaded the presidential palace in Santiago, the capital of Chile. Latin Americans call this “the first 9/11.”
On the first 9/11, Americans were the criminals. On the second 9/11, Americans were the victims. Which one do you think we remember? We remember the second 9/11, of course, because it fits our preferred narrative.
The second 9/11 “teaches” us that we are justified in making war on other countries, because we are fighting “terrorism.”
The first 9/11 teaches us that we are the terrorists and that we are willing to kill people and kill democracies to help American corporations make money.
But we are the good guys, we are told.
Let’s talk about double standards as it relates to Russia.
Compared to Russia, We Are the Good Guys, Right?
Why is it that when “we” invaded Afghanistan (in 2001), it was a good deed, done with all the best of intentions. But when Russia invaded Afghanistan (in 1979), it was because they were an “evil empire.” By what objective measure is one good and the other bad?
How is it that the Russians have no right to intervene in their own sphere (Eastern Europe and Central Asia) but we have every right to intervene in Latin America and subjugate every country in our “backyard”?
How is it that, in 2022 and 2023 we have every right to ship billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine on Russia’s doorstep, but if Russia shipped weapons to Latin America, we’d be saying, “This means war”? What’s the difference, objectively?
How is it that in 1962, we could install missile silos in Turkey, on Russia’s doorstep, but when Russia installed missile silos in Cuba, it was an act of war? What’s the difference, objectively?
Clearly there is a double standard here. It’s not logical. But it’s not supposed to be logical.
Sales and marketing professionals will tell you that we make decisions emotionally, and later justify them with logic. This applies to how we form our ideas about what America is and what we should do in the world.
We Are Constantly Being Sold Ideas About What America Is
Don’t think for a minute that we are not constantly being sold ideas.
Commercial ads sell us ideas.
Governments sell us ideas, and false narratives.
Political parties are constantly selling us ideas.
Media outlets are selling us ideas and false narratives.
And our educational system, especially our “history” classes sell us a monumental load of ideas, mainly that we are a heroic and well-intentioned country.
So how do “they” sell us ideas? I’m talking about corporations, governments, politicians, media outlets and history textbooks.
“They” sell us ideas with 1) engaging stories and 2) endless repetition of important themes.
It’s not about 1) critical thinking, 2) unvarnished facts or 3) rigorous analysis.
So when we feel fear, we need to ask where that comes from. And when we feel righteous indignation, we need to ask where that comes from. And when we feel a thirst for revenge, we need to ask where that comes from.
What Can We Learn From Iraq?
It doesn’t matter that in Iraq we killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions. What matters is that we had been attacked on 9/11 and we needed to do something.
We needed to take action. It didn’t matter that there were no weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq, contrary to what we had been told.
It doesn’t matter that Iraq had cooperated with UN weapons inspectors, like Scott Ritter, who found no WMDs. What matters is that there might have been WMDs and we couldn’t take any chances.
It didn’t matter that Saddam Hussein had no affiliation with the 9/11 hijackers, or with Al Qaeda, contrary to what we had been told. What matters is that Saddam Hussein was a bad guy.
And who else could take action but us? After all, we are the heroes in this scenario.
What Does an Legal or Ethical War Look Like?
Here’s what we are not told. We have not fought a legal, ethical or constitutional war since 1945, the end of WWII. We have not fought a defensive war since the end of WWII.
If you were born after 1945, you have never seen a war that was legal, ethical, defensive, or constitutional.
Not one …
Look at it this way: If you’re in a bar and a fight breaks out, somebody started it. Somebody was the aggressor. Somebody else was the defender. The aggressor is guilty of a crime. The defender is not guilty of a crime. You’re allowed to defend yourself.
On the world stage, countries are allowed to defend themselves. But if you are the aggressor, you have committed a crime. If you’re not defending yourself, you are a criminal.
This is as true at the international level as it is at the interpersonal level. But we’re not taught this because it just wouldn’t do for us to know the ethics of war.
Since 1945, we’ve engaged in dozens of wars, hundreds of military actions and countless covert operations.
Not one in self defense. Not one.
Here is an authoritative summary of U.S. military interventions, from the government itself.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42738/38
Vietnam and International Law
In the 1960s and 1970s, “we” went around the world to kill millions of Vietnamese who posed no threat to us. The pretense was that we were fighting communism, but our actions in Vietnam completely violated the Charter of the United Nations, which was a treaty that we had signed in 1945, promising not to violate the territorial sovereignty or political independence of any other country.
The UN Charter, which we signed, states: “All [Member Nations] shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state …”
So, any nation that uses force or the threat of force against the territorial integrity or the political independence of any state is violating the Charter of the United Nations.
Our Constitution provides that when we sign a treaty, it becomes the law of the land. So, by violating the Charter of the United Nations, we thereby violate 1) our agreement, 2) our Constitution and 3) international law.
Wouldn’t it be great if all nations would abide by international law? If we were to abide by international law, we would have peace. Period. End of story.
The Iraq War
Let’s talk about the Iraq war. We went around the world to kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who posed no threat to us. In so doing, we violated our own Constitution and international law.
The same story is told on a smaller scale in Panama, Grenada, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia, just to name a few.
Foreign Bases “Defend” an Empire
We have over 800 foreign military bases around the world, in addition to 5000 or so military bases within the United States. Are we defending ourselves? You don’t need 800 foreign military bases to defend yourself.
Are we defending ourselves? Are we defending our shores? Or are we defending an empire?
Why should the average American want to maintain an empire?
Do you benefit from this empire, or do you just get to pay for it?
As Michael Parenti says, the Republic pays for the Empire. In other words, our people pay for empire. The average person pays for the empire, but mainly the rich benefit from it.
The Purpose of “News”
The purpose of news is not to tell you the truth. If that were the case, it would be a different world. If the purpose of the news were to tell you the truth, you would know how many people died in Vietnam. You would know that we dropped more tons of bombs on the peasant populations of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia than did all combatants in all of WWII.
If the purpose of the news were to tell you the truth, you would know that the US military, the CIA and our puppet dictators have killed millions of innocent people since World War II.
Have we created a “holocaust” of our own since World War II? You bet. Have we killed more than 6 million people since World War II? You bet.
Put Vietnam and Korea together and you easily exceed 4,000,000 civilian deaths, using conservative estimates of the casualties in those countries.
The smaller interventions only killed thousands or tens of thousands each. That’s all. Only a few thousand deaths each in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, just to name a few.
These smaller numbers add up even if you don’t count the incidental deaths from disease, famine and extreme poverty that invariably follow in the wake of war.
More than 200,000 died in Guatemala from 1954 to 1994, because of a brutal military dictatorship and a civil war that ensued after “we” overthrew their duly elected prime minister, Jacobo Arbenz.
And then there’s East Timor, where, with our full knowledge, consent and support, the Suharto government of Indonesia killed over 200,000 people over the course of 25 years, from the Ford administration in the 1970s through the Clinton administration in the 1990s.
Ethics, not Perfection
“But, Hart, we’re not perfect.”
I’m not talking about perfection. I’m talking about basic, fundamental ethics. And I’m talking about being responsible enough to accept blame and urge changes in US foreign policy.
As a country we are not fundamentally moral or ethical, not if we are judged by our actions.
Are We Civilized?
Legend has it that Gandhi was asked what he thought about Western Civilization.
He replied, “It would be a good idea.”
Wouldn’t it be great if we were half as civilized as we think we are.
Who Decides What’s On The “News”
We don’t get this information on the news. Why? Follow the money. The news is sponsored by war profiteers. Why would they pay for programming that makes war look bad? They want war to look epic and heroic, noble and masculine.
They don’t want you to think about the downside of war. They want you to think we fight wars in self-defense, or in defense of high ideals, like democracy or human rights.
We are the reluctant heroes. We would rather not go to war. But our enemies give us no choice.
It’s a good story. But it’s just a story.
If I sell war planes, I don’t want the citizenry to think too much about the damage they do to people, families, communities, farms, forests and waterways.
If I sell cluster bombs or bombs made with depleted uranium, I don’t want you to know these weapons are illegal under international law. So I’m not going to sponsor any news outlet that is willing to conduct a proper investigation. News outlets know how not to bite the hand that feeds them.
Nor would it do for our history textbooks to tell us the true cost of war. Better just to tell stories about heroism.
We are fed lies from cradle to grave.
These delusions are so compelling that even leading environmentalists feel compelled to fan the flames of war.
*****
Recommended Reading:
War with Russia? By Stephen F. Cohen
American Exception, by Aaron Good
The Sorrows of Empire, by Chalmers Johnson
Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James W. Loewen
Thanks for this brave analysis
Great article! But it's Augusto Pinochet (not Agosto). Other than that, everything looks pretty accurate to me! :)