Enough! Enough! No More Slaughter!

drone 2
This image shows a US Predator drone firing a missile in Yemen.

It is admirable and courageous that many students and others in the USA and around the world want to keep guns out of schools, out of robberies at stores and in home invasions, and out of streets where shootouts often lead to death of innocent civilians, including babies, caught in the crossfire.

Likewise,it is wonderful that many of these activists are calling for mental health checks for gun purchasers. Presumably this would include military personnel returning from wars and who have become unhinged by their war experiences, such as happened to a military man who returned home only to kill his own six year old son:

William Scaccia Jr., father who killed son in murder-suicide, suffered …

www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/william_scaccia_suffered_from.html

Sep 26, 2017 – William Scaccia suffered from PTSD and depression before killing himself and his 6-year-old son. … Police said Scaccia did end up obtaining a gun somehow, which he used to kill his son and then take his own life last Thursday. Police say Scaccia also ignited accelerant throughout the house in an attempt to burn it down …

We also MUST have periodic wellness checks for police and other law enforcement officials, as well as better training, so that killing events like this following one do not keep happening again and again:

Hundreds of California protesters shut down freeways and marched in the state capital after police fatally shot an unarmed black father in his grandparents’ backyard, firing 20 rounds into the 22-year-old who was only carrying a cellphone. – From “Protests in California after police kill black man carrying only his phone,” by Sam Levin and agencies, “The Guardian”

We also have all of the slaughter by guns and by other means of other species of which many are on endangered species lists or soon to be due to poaching and trophy hunting. This happening is, too, connected to the gun carnage at home in a similar way to the police initiated and other shootings.

(Some of our police in the USA are wonderful. Not all are rotten to the core.)

Then, too, we have the USA warfare across the world. Well, of course the industrial-military complex welcomes it since many of the research labs and companies only have the USA and approved allies as customers. So they need weapons to be used up so as to be able to sell more and make ever greater profits.

Who knows about how many millions of children and others around the world have been killed by US guns and other means in the last few decades? And certainly this murderous stance needs to stop, too.

If we want to help stop it, antiwar protests are great. Yet the gun reform students and others need to take this matter on as part of their anti-violence campaigns in my opinion.

In addition, we need to stop or at least limit buying products from companies that indirectly benefit from the USA warmongering for resources and/or in their attempt to harm other countries like Russia and North Korea, and their allies.

Since Alan Greenspan stated his understanding, how many millions more have been killed in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, assorted African nations and in other lands, too? One can only guess.

Greenspan admits Iraq was about oil, as deaths put at 1.2m | World …

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/16/iraq.iraqtimeline

Sep 16, 2007 – The man once regarded as the world’s most powerful banker has bluntly declared that the Iraq war was ‘largely’ about oil. Appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1987 and retired last year after serving four presidents, Alan Greenspan has been the leading Republican economist for a generation and his utterings …

Images that changed the way we thought about war – CNN – CNN.com

https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/20/health/children-of-conflict-photos…/index.html

Aug 20, 2016 – When children are victims, the reality of war comes into sharp focus.

Donald Trump’s first US military raid ‘kills 30 civilians, including 10 …

https://www.independent.co.uk › News › World › Middle East

Jan 30, 2017 – The eight-year-old daughter of a radical preacher was among a large group of civilians reportedly killed during a US dawn raid in Yemen, the first military operation overseen by Donald Trump. Around 30 people, including 10 women and children, are thought to have been killed by American military …

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article206212019.html#storylink=cpy


The best case against drone warfare as it is being waged lies in the fact that the campaign is being conducted in secret, shrouded from public view, unguided by any clear standards and immune from oversight.
– From “Reorienting the Kantian Attack on Drones,” by Steven Mazie, Professor of Political Studies, BHSEC-Manhattan | Supreme Court Correspondent, The Economist

The American use of drones to strike at terrorism suspects outside of war zones is controversial and troubling to ethicists of war. Apart from its questionable legality, this unprecedented method of fighting challenges traditional moral assumptions about warfare. – From :The Morality of Drone Warfare,” by David Chan, Philosophy, UWSP College of Letters and Science

Saudi Arabia Bombs Yemeni Water Well, Killing 30 Civilians

mintpressnews.com

Strikes in northern Yemen on Saturday reportedly killed two children and first responders as US-backed coalition continues ‘disturbing’ strikes, Houthi, Saudi Arabia, United Nations, Yemen,

If we are totally tired of and outraged by all of the assorted slaughter, if we are tired of fossil fuel pipelines crisscrossing the globe, if we are tired of oil rigs dotting our coastlines, if we are tired of corporate lobbies controlling our politicians … then we must take action and stop buying from the corporations that benefit from our collective thieving ways. We must resist. We must build largely self-sufficient transition towns sdo as to largely avoid our current globalized economic system and  its financial arms.

Most of all, we must listen to people like Emanuel Colon:

Colon, a junior at Worcester State University majoring in criminal justice, is also a member of Temple Emanuel Sinai. He was tapped by the group to open the rally with a religious appeal.

“I’m going to be bringing a Jewish perspective into this,” Colon said. “In Hebrew we have a concept called ‘tikkun olam,’ which means repairing the world. It’s very intertwined with social justice. I’m going to read from Jewish text and give some interpretation about it, about what the Jewish tradition tells us. What it basically tells us is it’s our responsibility, our obligation to protect our neighbors, the lives around us.” – From “Student organizers prepare for Saturday’s March For Our Lives down Main Street,” by Bill Shaner

Leo Tolstoy asked “How should we live our lives? Please listen to Emanuel Colon give a full and meaningful response to this question. It is very powerful and moving!

 

He starts speaking at 39 seconds and he explains his views until 3.35. …

Supporters gather in Worcester for March for Our Lives protest for gun reform.

Emanuel Colon speaks with great passion, unwavering understanding and a resolute sense of conviction. If the whole world of people followed suit, imagine about what a wonderful paradise this world could be for all people, all other species and the planet, itself! So let’s follow his lead, eh? We certainly need more people like him with his strong sense of moral imperative!

Sally Dugman is a writer from MA, USA

 

 

Tags:

Support Countercurrents

Countercurrents is answerable only to our readers. Support honest journalism because we have no PLANET B.
Become a Patron at Patreon

Join Our Newsletter

GET COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

Join our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Get CounterCurrents updates on our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Related Posts

Join Our Newsletter


Annual Subscription

Join Countercurrents Annual Fund Raising Campaign and help us

Latest News