Is America Addicted to War?

The top 5 reasons why we keep getting into foolish fights.

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Stephen M. Walt
Foreign Policy

The United States started out as 13 small and vulnerable colonies clinging to the east coast of North America. Over the next century, those original 13 states expanded all the way across the continent, subjugating or exterminating the native population and wresting Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California from Mexico. It fought a bitter civil war, acquired a modest set of overseas colonies, and came late to both world wars. But since becoming a great power around 1900, it has fought nearly a dozen genuine wars and engaged in countless military interventions.

Yet Americans think of themselves as a peace-loving people, and we certainly don't regard our country as a "warrior nation" or "garrison state." Teddy Roosevelt was probably the last U.S. president who seemed to view war as an activity to be welcomed (he once remarked that "A just war is in the long run far better for a man's soul than the most prosperous peace"), and subsequent presidents always portray themselves as going to war with great reluctance, and only as a last resort.


In 2008, Americans elected Barack Obama in part because they thought he would be different from his predecessor on a host of issues, but especially in his approach to the use of armed force. It was clear to nearly everyone that George W. Bush had launched a foolish and unnecessary war in Iraq, and then compounded the error by mismanaging it (and the war in Afghanistan too). So Americans chose a candidate who had opposed Bush's war in Iraq and could bring U.S. commitments back in line with our resources. Above all, Americans thought Obama would be a lot more thoughtful about where and how to use force, and that he understood the limits of this crudest of policy tools. The Norwegian Nobel Committee seems to have thought so too, when they awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize not for anything he had done, but for what it hoped he might do henceforth.


Yet a mere two years later, we find ourselves back in the fray once again. Since taking office, Obama has escalated U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and launched a new war against Libya. As in Iraq, the real purpose of our intervention is regime change at the point of a gun. At first we hoped that most of the guns would be in the hands of the Europeans, or the hands of the rebel forces arrayed against Muammar al-Qaddafi, but it's increasingly clear that U.S. military forces, CIA operatives and foreign weapons supplies are going to be necessary to finish the job.

Moreover, as Alan Kuperman of the University of Texas and Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune have now shown, the claim that the United States had to act to prevent Libyan tyrant Muammar al-Qaddafi from slaughtering tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Benghazi does not stand up to even casual scrutiny. Although everyone recognizes that Qaddafi is a brutal ruler, his forces did not conduct deliberate, large-scale massacres in any of the cities he has recaptured, and his violent threats to wreak vengeance on Benghazi were directed at those who continued to resist his rule, not at innocent bystanders. There is no question that Qaddafi is a tyrant with few (if any) redemptive qualities, but the threat of a bloodbath that would "[stain] the conscience of the world" (as Obama put it) was slight.

It remains to be seen whether this latest lurch into war will pay off or not, and whether the United States and its allies will have saved lives or squandered them. But the real question we should be asking is: Why does this keep happening? Why do such different presidents keep doing such similar things? How can an electorate that seemed sick of war in 2008 watch passively while one war escalates in 2009 and another one gets launched in 2011? How can two political parties that are locked in a nasty partisan fight over every nickel in the government budget sit blithely by and watch a president start running up a $100 million per day tab in this latest adventure? What is going on here?

Read the 5 Reasons Full Article Here

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Does Ayahuasca Offer a Natural Gateway to Healing Ourselves and the World?

Ayahuasca is a indigenous plant medicine that is said to teach a holistic understanding of the true nature of ourselves and the universe.

Amazon Shaman at Rainforest Plant Medicine gathering
at Guaria de Osa EcoLodge, Costa Rica

Human World Order
Activist Post

As the material world rushes around us at a blistering pace, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find truth and meaning in all the chaos.  The rat-race economy occupies most of our time and energy, and what's left is typically drowned out by perpetually empty distractions.

We may feel utterly disconnected from nature and each other, almost as if we've been deliberately torn from our natural state to conform to a manufactured reality.

When we become conscious of this illusory fabric of our society, it's a somewhat liberating experience.  On one hand, understanding that the matrix is following a predetermined track helps to bring clarity to previously incomprehensible world events, as we can now begin to see the forest through the strategically placed trees. By contrast, it can be quite frightening to realize that the engineers of this matrix seem to prefer war and fear to peace and love.

Perhaps recognizing the genuine structure of the fabricated system makes it easier to succeed or survive in the matrix, as one will likely better understand that the primary trait required is ruthlessness.  The rub is that if one learns the truth that perpetuating this "system" is fatally destructive, then ruthlessness becomes nearly impossible for the enlightened.  As it only feeds what you've grown to despise.

So then, how do we function in this mad society when we begin to awaken?  Shall we keep taking the soma fed to us by the controllers to keep our level of contentment just a notch above catatonic? Or shall we strive to step out of the grid to use our awakening to better ourselves in order to affect the world around us?

It can be difficult to find the willpower to heal ourselves in such a poisoned world.  Some use meditation, prayer, exercise, diet, or friends to seek clarity amidst the storm of daily life. Indeed, many have proven to find great success and happiness in the active pursuit for a better world using these methods.  And each new accomplishment moves them closer to a holistic understanding of the truth by passionately living the solution.

It seems that many have the intellectual knowledge of why we must make personal changes to effect the greater good, yet what is lacking is the profound understanding that can only come from direct experience.

Ayahuasca is now being used by many for such an experience.  Said to be a "great teacher," ayahuasca is a psychotropic plant brew that has been used by South American shaman for thousands of years to better "see" the world.  It has inspired the work of many great philosophers of the recent awakening like John Perkins, David Icke, and Daniel Pinchbeck.  Below is David Icke speaking about his ayahuasca experience:



It had such an illuminating effect on Perkins and Pinchbeck that they both, individually, help organize bringing others to the great healing teacher.  Pinchbeck, author of three terrific books, filmmaker and a contributor to RealitySandwich.com regularly attends authentic shamanic sessions held in Costa Rica. These all-inclusive Experiential Gatherings are open to the publicon a limited basis for a cost of $2000 for 10 nights and 11 days.

The intentions of these gatherings, referred to as "vacations with a purpose," are the following:

• To experientially learn from ancient rainforest plant medicine traditions stemming from the time-tested, traditional healing and wellness practices of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon.
• To welcome an alchemical transformation, healing, and re-integration of body, mind, heart and spirit.
• To receive insight and guidance from these ancient and profound worldviews and thus strengthen one's essence and improve one's health.
• To enjoy and be nurtured by the pristine Pacific Ocean and mighty rainforest ecosystems on the Osa Peninsula and her natural wonders.
• Expand one's guts and grace. (Source: The Rainforest Plant Medicine Council)

It is unlikely ayahuasca will ever be considered a "party" drug as some other psychotropics like mushrooms or LCD have been labeled.  Ayahuasca is overwhelmingly taken for the purpose of learning and healing where authentic gatherings run by trained shaman offer the most powerful experience.  Below is a trailer to a new documentary following three successful people on their journey to ayahuasca:



So does ayahuasca allow you to "connect to the umbilical cord of the universe" to experience the "infinite" understanding?  Is it the natural gateway to healing ourselves so we can help heal the world?  There's only one way to find out . . . .

For more information on taking the journey to experience the Rainforest Plant Medicine Gatherings visit HERE

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US Makes War on Another Muslim Country With Oil

Carlos Latuff/Deviant Art

Lew Rockwell

Following the US-lobbied UN authorization of military murder in Libya, the death-dealing regime of Colonel Gaddafi said immediately that it would stop all killing. That put Obama’s war on hold, for a little while. The crazy Colonel has learned a thing or two about American foreign policy. If you pretend to favor the stated goals of the empire and comply with its stated dictates, you can otherwise do what every government in the world is structured to do: stay in power at all costs.

Gaddafi learned this lesson about a decade ago, when, with much fanfare, he announced that he would stop his nuclear weapons program and join the war on terror. The US then decided to rank him and his regime among the world’s good guys, and proceeded to hold him up as an example of wise statesmanship. Then he proceeded to dig in more deeply and tighten his despotic control over his citizens, all with the implied blessing of the US.

But this time it may not work. For weeks, American officials have been decrying Gaddafi’s bloody attacks on his people, but does the US really have a problem with dictatorship of his sort? This fact is unknown to Americans, but in the Middle East, and in Arab nations in particular, American commercial interests are regarded as a force for liberation but not the US government. The US has been the key to the power of Middle East dictatorships for decades, among which are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Yemen. I leave aside the killing of hundreds of thousands of Iaqi civilians to liberate them.

Read Full Article

RELATED ARTICLE:

Obama Threatens Kadhafi with Military Action

RELATED VIDEO:

Ron Paul: Libya No-Fly Zone is an Act of War

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US lawmakers seek big Afghan withdrawal in July

© AFP Peter Parks

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Eighty-one US lawmakers, mostly Democratic allies of the White House, pressed President Barack Obama on Wednesday to make a "significant and sizeable" drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan in July.

"Let us be clear. The redeployment of a minimal number of US troops from Afghanistan in July will not meet the expectations of Congress or the American people," the group, all members of the US House of Representatives, said in a letter to Obama.

The lawmakers, just four of whom were Republicans, expressed support for Obama's plans to start withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan no later than July 2011 with an eye to transferring security to Afghan forces by 2014.
But "we, the undersigned members of Congress, believe the forthcoming reduction in US troop levels in Afghanistan must be significant and sizeable, and executed in an orderly fashion," they said.


The letter, crafted by Democratic Representative Barbara Lee and made public by the Peace Action advocacy group, came on the eve of a House of Representatives vote on a resolution calling for an end to the war.

The letter noted that polls show Americans overwhelmingly believe that the war is not worth fighting, and it cited the conflict's high cost at a time when many government programs are on the chopping block.

And the lawmakers cited senior US officials who have said there was no military solution to the unrest, and said that a US drawdown would spur the Afghan government to make strides in battling corruption and pursuing good governance efforts.

"We must commit ourselves to ensuring that our nation's military engagement in Afghanistan does not become the status quo. It is time to focus on securing a future of economic opportunity and prosperity for the American people and move swiftly to end America's longest war in Afghanistan," they wrote.

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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Ron Paul: Stop the Illegal, Immoral, Unconstitutional Afghan War (Video)

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Living Like a Refugee Is Not Easy

I had the luck to catch the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars band last night in Manhattan. They formed in the refugee camps during the civil war of the 1990s, using their musical talents to stay alive and keep spirits high. They have since toured all over the world spreading their bright positive sound, which draws on a mix of influences from reggae to Nigerian high-life and American rap.

A pair of documentary filmmakers captured their story, and the band today leverages its success to help Sierra Leone recover and develop. When times are tough you have to dance, dance, dance.