Tag: Tony Marsella

What more can be said of war?

Posted on by kathiemm

By guest writer Anthony J. Marsella

WAR

What more can be said of war

That has not already been said,

That has not already been written,

That has not already been sung in song,

Recited in verse, shared in epic tales?

 

What more can be said of war

That has not already been committed to screen

In iconic movies with legendary actors,

Fighting and dying with glory amidst waving flags,

Or in heralded documentaries carefully

Edited with photos, letters, poignant

Words of lament spoken amid haunting tunes?

 

What more can be said of war

That has not already been sculpted in marble,

Painted on canvases,

Photographed in back and white,

And vivid color,

Revealing blood is red, bone is white,

Death is endless.

What more can be said of war

That has not already been inscribed in minds and bodies

Of soldiers who survived,

Civilians who endured,

Prisoners captive to trauma,

Scars visible and invisible?

 

What more can be said of war

That has not already been carved

On ordered granite gravestones

In national cemeteries, honoring sacrifice,

Their death veiled in shade and sunlight?

 

What more can be said of war,

That has not already been said about heroes and villains,

Soldiers and generals,

Warriors and misfits,

Freedom fighters and terrorists,

Victims and collateral damage,

Apologies and reparations?

 

What more can be said of war,

That has not already been said about

Glorious and evil causes,

Lusts for power and control

Access to wealth and resources,

Messianic responsibilities, moral duties,

Domination . . . ascendancy . . . revenge?

 

What more can be said of war,

That has not already been eulogized

On fields of battle,

Where lives were lost, minds seared,

And historians’ crafts polished

With the biased narratives of victors:

Waterloo, Hue, Fallujah?

There is no winner in war!

 

And why, if so much has been

Spoken, written, and engraved,

Why do the lessons of war,

Continue to be ignored, denied, distorted?

And now . . .  Syria.

Comment:  I wrote this poem in the course of two days as I witnessed the tragedy of death and suffering in Syria, bewildered again and again, by the endless uses of so many death technologies. I was dismayed that a score of nations appear to be pursuing selfish interests amidst the ethnic and tribal cleansing and genocides occurring. We are living with endless war.  Nothing more can be said about war. Violence begets violence, war begets war! No cries of noble responsibilities to protect and defend from either side are sufficient or warranted. They are merely part of the tactics, strategies, and policies that sustain war. Who benefits from war?

Anthony J. Marsella, August 28-29, 2013

USA: A culture of violence, Part 3

Posted on by kathiemm

Final in a series by guest author Dr. Tony Marsella

The foreign policies and actions of the U.S. over the past 100 years are rooted in intentions to control and dominate the international order of nations and cultures. These policies and actions have proven destructive to national and global peace, and have served and empowered the interests of a limited number of individuals and groups.  While announced as intentions to bring democracy and freedom, they have too often resulted in occupation, oppression, and repression of human rights.

An obvious result — visible in virtually every nation caught in our efforts – is the costly growth of a vast US network of:

  • Military bases and operations [more than 900 known foreign bases]
  • Massive fortress embassies/consulates
  • Encampments/prisons/death squads
  • Cultural disintegration and decline.

These networks do not promote cooperation and admiration; rather they encourage instability via reflexive protests, insurrections, rebellions, revolutions, and acts of domestic, state, and international terrorism.

All nations act in their own interests. In a global era, however, selfish national interests result in direct and indirect opposition. Nations in which people feel victimized and humiliated by the U.S. consider revenge as just and appropriate. This creates an endless cycle.

Who benefits from the following examples of U.S. foreign policy and actions?

  • Assassinations/death squads/drones,
  • Celebration of national “morality”/necessity of torture
  • Controlling the UN via vetoes
  • Controlling the IMF and World Bank
  • Development of domestic crowd controls (militarization of police)
  • Disproportionate support of “allies” and enemification of others,
  • Glorification of war and militarism
  • Mass surveillance, monitoring, and archiving of data,
  • Massive government/private intelligence security agencies/organizations
  • Media influence and control
  • Promotion of nationalism/pseudo-patriotism
  • Propaganda and promotion of USA exceptionalism
  • Purchase and installation of pro-American leaders and dictators
  • Recruitment of spies, informers, collaborators, agents
  • Vilification of domestic/international critics
  • Weapons/arms dealer/sales

In both of the articles cited below, and in this post, I argue that we are headed for a “dreadful reckoning” (Grieder’s term) if we do not come to an awareness of the many sources and consequences of violence in our lives, particularly the perpetuation of “cultures of violence” that are sources of endless suffering, destruction, and death.

  •  “The United States of America: A Culture of War” (Marsella, A.J. [2012]. International Journal of Intercultural Research, 35, 714-728.
  • “Nonkilling psychology and lifeism” (Marsella, A.J. (2011). In J. Pim & D. Christie (Eds.) Nonkilling Psychology (pp. 361-378). Honolulu, Hi: Center for Global Non-Violence.

The answer resides in the necessity of non-violent activism to prevent violence. This is the timeless answer of every great peacemaker.

Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii, November 8, 2012