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Green Peace

Peace would be truly green – besides eliminating a vast source of greenhouse emissions and environmental toxicity, the end to extensively militarised conflict would no doubt singlehandedly rescue the world’s major economies from the “double dip” or “permanent implosion”.

Thousands of marchers in London, England today repeated the public demands to de-escalate the “war on terror” :-

https://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/20/protesters-march-against-afghanistan-war-london

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11803918

https://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201009115820164


The Sky News reporter keeps talking about the low turnout for the march – the real issue is that a very large proportion of population of the United Kingdom want the UK military presence in Afghanistan to be scaled back.

As an example of what engagement in international conflicts implies, despite moves to “green” the military, the United States armed forces are still the world’s largest emitters of pollutants of one form or another – and so peacemaking and a downscaling of the military would be helpful in the “fight” against environmental degradation :-

https://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/2-us-department-of-defense-is-the-worst-polluter-on-the-planet/

“US Department of Defense is the Worst Polluter on the Planet : The US military is responsible for the most egregious and widespread pollution of the planet, yet this information and accompanying documentation goes almost entirely unreported. In spite of the evidence, the environmental impact of the US military goes largely unaddressed by environmental organizations and was not the focus of any discussions or proposed restrictions at the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. This impact includes uninhibited use of fossil fuels, massive creation of greenhouse gases, and extensive release of radioactive and chemical contaminants into the air, water, and soil…”

https://pottsmerc.com/articles/2010/11/05/news/green/doc4cd0881f45aba690358298.txt

“As the world’s largest polluter, the U.S. military has its work cut out for it when it comes to greening its operations. According to the nonprofit watchdog group, Project Censored, American forces generate some 750,000 tons of toxic waste annually – more than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined. Although this pollution occurs globally on U.S. bases in dozens of countries, there are tens of thousands of toxic “hot spots” on some 8,500 military properties right here on America soil…It’s unclear whether the U.S. military is taking heed of criticisms in regard to pollution and endangered species management, but it is undoubtedly concerned about climate change, as its effects on the environment could lead to unprecedented natural resource wars and mass migrations of people. And reducing our reliance on potentially hostile foreign oil sources is a short term national security imperative as well. A recent Obama administration directive calls for the DoD to draw 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020…”

Ironically, one of the ways that the USA has cut down on its Carbon Dioxide and other toxic emissions has led to a complete abuse of human rights and global conventions on warfare. You can download the latest Fellowship of Reconciliation report on unmanned drone warfare for free here (printed copies cost £3) :-

https://www.for.org.uk/files/drones-conv-killing.pdf
“Convenient Killing : Armed Drones and the ‘Playstation’ Mentality”

https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/festival/2010/lineup/event/3180
“Drones, democracy, and depleted uranium” by Michael Northcott

One day, bombing from the air will be illegal. But in the meantime, we have new enemies to peace. Al Gore this week has called Climate Change the new “terror” which the world must resist, or face major de-stabilisation :-

https://www.hindustantimes.com/Climate-change-is-the-new-global-terror-says-Al-Gore/Article1-628952.aspx

“Climate Change is the new global terror : Nobel Peace Prize winner and champion climate campaigner Al Gore outlined the doom the world is awaiting because of climate change and expressed disappointment at world leaders failing to clinch a treaty to fight the new global terror…”

Drop the hate.

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