Armistice Day, enacted at the end of World War I, was a worldwide recognition by all nations that humanity was capable of being led by nationalist and religious fervor to the brink of total destruction, and peace through mutual cooperation was man’s only chance to survive and prosper. At the end of World War II, the capability to accomplish that end was demonstrated in Japan, with abandon. Then nationalist competition ensured that many of the world’s most powerful countries would be able to participate in mutual planetary annihilation.
During the Korean War, the U.S., for propaganda purposes, saw fit to change the definition of Armistice Day from striving for peace and cooperation to hero worship and military dominion, thus better serving the narrow corporate/militarist interests of imperialist expansion. With a long history of contrived offenses by which we could invade countries that would enrich but a few Americans, “armistice” was not in the lexicon of the economic elite; “war veterans” appreciation better served a corporate takeover of the military to justify the capture of foreign resources and markets.
Today, the U.S. military, with upwards of 800 installations around the world, is the largest fossil fuel consuming entity on Earth; the next nine largest combined account for less. As the planet dies of heat prostration, the security promised us from a position of strength has proven to be the leading risk to survival of everyone.
As a member of Veterans For Peace, Hanoi, Vietnam Chapter 160, in a country where 3 million died to defend against our aggression, I recognize the grief, sorrow and loss the world must have felt in 1918 with 50 million casualties and infrastructure ruin that enhanced the flu pandemic taking another 100 million lives. Peace was not just a concept but recognized as our only chance to survive. Bumbling militarism as a corporate sales force will only give us World War Last.
Please join Veterans For Peace in retaking Armistice, for the benefit of all.
— William Bartee
Anchorage
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