Category: war

Day 2 sea day

Ian HunterLeave a comment

A good day to unwind

Relax and decompress

Reflect on the long journey to get here

Ponder on the horrific events taking place in the middle east

Its hard to imagine how cruel humans can be to their own species

Especially when you are on vacation

Surrounded by happy smiling faces

On a big safe floating town

Steaming east on the Mediterranean Sea

Being well fed and entertained

While innocent civilians are caught up in a war

Its more than 3,000 miles away

But its beamed into your eyes via TV and internet

Hard to ignore and hard to understand

Why why why?

Will there always be wars?

Death and destruction can only be spun so many ways

Ian Hunter2 Comments

Ukraine claims to have destroyed XXX tanks

and to have killed YYY Russian soldiers

Russia claims their losses are much less

Russian TV calls the war a military operation

aimed at liberating Ukrainians from Nazi rule

Americans are told that Ukraine resistance is forcing Russians to retreat

mostly because we supplied them with expensive weapons to fight

we are entertained with video clips showing Russian tanks blown up

it looks just like a video game where we can celebrate a win for our team

nobody ever mentions that a Russian tank crew just got incinerated

Americans are told that we are imposing severe sanctions to force Putin to stop the war

Russians are told that the West is trying to destroy Russia through sanctions

so many different versions of the truth

and so many different news outlets peddling the different versions

war rages on social media

propaganda wars rage between governments

meanwhile war rages on the battlefield and in civilian areas

troops on both sides are being killed in action

innocent civilians are the collateral damage in this conflict

to those impacted directly it is a total nightmare

does the mother of a fallen soldier care about which version of the truth is true

do the families of slain civilians care about which version of the truth is true

death and destruction can only be spun so may ways

Does history repeat itself?

Ian HunterLeave a comment

Wartime

A period of armed conflict

Peacetime

A period between wars

Warmongers in peacetime

Steadfastly build military strength

Peacelovers in peacetime

Reduce military spending

Warmongers in times of tension

Seek to divide potential adversaries

Peacelovers in times of tension

Try to cool things by diplomacy

Warmongers attack their neighbor

Crushing them with military superiority

Peacelovers condemn military attacks

Respond by imposing sanctions

Warmongers laugh at sanctions

While bombing their neighbor

Peacelovers support invaded country

Sending weapons and humanitarian aid

Warmongers cut supply lines

Siege and bomb neighbor into submission

Peacelovers watch from a distance

Condemning destruction and killing

Warmongers declare victory

Then threaten another neighbor

Peacelovers sign pact with latest threatened neighbor

Promising to defend them

Warmonger invades second neighbor

Ignoring threats from peacelovers

Peacelovers declare war

Take up arms and fight warmonger

1939 or 2022?

I am drowning in waves of sadness

Ian Hunter4 Comments

I was born in Europe a few years after WW2

But I grew up learning all about it

My parents still had ration books to buy food

They told me stories of constant bombing

How entire families were wiped out

Being evacuated to live outside the city

Telling me about family members who lost their lives while serving our country

Grandparents telling me about the horrors of WW1

These were difficult things to comprehend as a young child

As I grew older I learned to understand European history

I witnessed how Europeans came together in unity after WW2

The European Union brought unity across different cultures

Nato formed alliances with one specific aim

To prevent any further wars in Europe

I grew up feeling safe and secure

Even through the cold war era

With nuclear missiles primed to fire from submarines at all times

Mutually assured destruction is a great deterrent

I was convinced I would never witness a major war in Europe in my lifetime

Today we see shocking images from Ukraine 

Innocent civilians fleeing their homeland in terror

Entire cities being destroyed in a mad land grab war

Proud Ukrainian people resisting the invading Russian army

This is not unlike the tales of WW2 that my family told me

But its being told in a totally different way

24/7 news on TV and social media is graphic and chilling

Emotions of anger and frustration flood over me

Mixed with guilt because I am safe being physically so far away from this conflict

Why is this all happening now and what can we do to stop it?

Unfortunately I have no answers

I am drowning in waves of sadness