WAR TO PEACE

As a proud pacifist I start condemning the brutal aggression of Ukraine by Russia. I am against every war, that is what a pacifist is. Sadly (or luckly, depending on the points of view) i cannot influence in any way Russian's politics in this matter. All I can do is to remain faithfull to my constitution. In Italy , following the horribile period of fascism, a democracy was boarn; after the tragedy of WWII it was clear to who wrote the constitution that a military solution could not be a future option in this new repulican society. USA and Russia are proud of their army and military power, Italy has printed on the 11th article of its constitution that, as a nation, it "REPUDIATES war as a means of settling international disputes". I stand by the anti-fascist values on which my land is founded. The critic here is obviusly to the war politics of the U.S in Ukraine which are supported by the current Italian government.

We get into these wars on the recommendations of presidents who are influenced by their staffs, most of whom are selected by the president and share the president’s viewpoint. These come after we are already involved militarily. Before the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, Green Berets were advising the South Vietnamese armed forces, our Air Force was bombing North Vietnamese supply routes in Laos, and our Navy was supporting South Vietnamese raids against the North Vietnamese coastline. Before the October 2002 authorization of the use of force (AUF) in Iraq, we were operating a “no fly zone,” and had military bases in several neighboring countries, a clear signal we were prepared to use military force if Saddam Hussein didn’t behave. A decade before the October 2001 AUF in Afghanistan the CIA had been helping the Taliban fight the Russians and we had supplied them with sophisticated weapons. One month before that resolution, President Bush was openly talking about “the war on terror.” What debates there were over these AUFs were largely full of jingoism and rah-rah warrior language, the last thing we want when committing our young to their possible deaths.

hello, still there?