Whipping up the war fever

Here we go again, another post on what increasingly feels like a push to war with Russia by people who haven't got a sodding clue the devastation such a conflict would inflict upon us. I really don't want to have to keep pointing out the naivete and idiocy of some of the commentators getting sucked into the propaganda drive softening us up to accept the inevitability of war but, there are things that cannot be ignored and have to be called out. In the previous post - Are we being sucked into the war psyops? 29.5.24 - I addressed the way the war propaganda machine works and asked whether by us commenting upon the drift towards war, we're inadvertently becoming part of the problem.

To conclude, we have a duty to expose the agenda of the war mongers. We have to do so in such a way that we don't end up getting sucked into their agenda by becoming part of the general background noise of war. It is not going to be easy and mistakes along the way are inevitable. However, we can't shirk the responsibility we have - we will be judged by history. As history is written by the winners, the point is to make sure we're the ones writing the history. On a more profound level, it's about making sure there are still people around to write that history...

Right on cue, the day after I posted the above piece, this comes up on my radar: Europe on high alert after suspected Moscow-linked arson and sabotage - Lisa O'Carroll | The Guardian | 30.5.24. You couldn't make it up, could you? If you're looking for a classic example of fear inducing propaganda that not only gets people used to the idea that a major conflict is inevitable, but actually gets some of them actively supporting it, this pretty much ticks all of the boxes in the worst possible way.

It documents a range of incidents that could be construed as sabotage by the Russians with the aim of destabilising the West. As you read through the piece, you'll notice a number of qualifying statements indicating that there may actually be some doubt about Russian involvement in some of the incidents. However, when governments and their security services have an agenda to whip up war fever, they're not going to let doubts and sometimes questionable evidence get in the way are they?

You would hope that a journalist would ask some searching questions about the way these incidents are being presented as part of an organised campaign of destabilisation. You would also hope that they would question the agenda about the way governments and their attendant security services are framing these incidents in order to boost an agenda. Instead, we get 'churnalists' who are only too happy to take up a role in the propaganda machine driving us to accept the inevitability of war.

To set the record straight, I'm an anarchist and have no time for the autocrats such as Putin. I also have no time for Zelensky. My view of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is that it's a small gangster state at war with a much bigger neighbouring gangster state. It's the kind of conflict I refuse to take sides in. The only side I take is that of the ordinary people from both sides being forced into a meat grinder of a war. This is why we send our solidarity to war resisters in both Ukraine and Russia.

It wouldn't surprise me if Russia was behind some of these incidents. It's the kind of behaviour you'd expect from a gangster state, albeit it can be argued that in their own way, most Western nations are also gangster states. The point is that the security services could just choose to quietly go about the business of tracking down who is behind these incidents and deal with them in such as way that they stop. Instead, along with their respective governments, they've made the decision to propagandise these incidents with the clear aim of whipping up war fever among the populace, getting them to not only accept the inevitability of war with Russia, but also, to actively support it.

So when we see pieces like the one from Lisa O'Carroll, it's vital to take a step back and start asking questions as to what agenda the writing and publishing of them is actually serving. Taking pieces like this at face value without asking some searching questions as to whose agenda is being served is not an option. Failure to call out war-mongering propaganda for what it is leads us ever further down the path to a destructive all out war.

As a bit of an aside, the problem is that none of the politicians, secret service operatives, journalists and all of the other actors involved in the push towards war have any clue as to what an all out war would actually involve for us. Ironically, the only people who currently may have some inkling are Putin and Zelensky! When I was younger, back in the 60s and 70s, many of the politicians who presumed to rule over us had fought in World War Two and were only too well aware of the horrors of all out war. That didn't stop the bastards from backing proxy wars but, they stopped short of pushing things to an outright confrontation with the then Soviet Union. That memory of what an all out war would entail for the West has been lost, which is why we're on the very dangerous trajectory we're on. We need to have some adults in the room...

To conclude, as outlined in my previous piece - Are we being sucked into the war psyops? 29.5.24 - we're being subjected to yet another psyop. The purpose of this one is to not only get people to start accepting the inevitability of a major war with Russia, it's also to get at least some of them actively supporting it. This is why constant vigilance about, and questioning of, the narrative we're being fed is absolutely vital if we want to avoid getting dragged into World War Three against our will.