Look closely at his face. This is the face of an Iraqi soldier trying to escape death and was instead kissed by an inferno sponsored by our military-financial complex. This is the face of war that our criminal Corporate-State Media never show us and our malignant politicians never mention. We will never know his name; he is but a body count and one of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who were buried by the hubris of treacherous imperialists who use “defense of democracy” as a means of stealing the wealth of nations. Presidents come and presidents go—each one promising to deliver change. All of them lie as they continue a legacy of immoral wars and repugnant colonialism that is turning our nation into the blitzkrieg bully of this planet.

Might makes right; those who have the most sophisticated guns get to dictate morality while practicing none of it. If there was justice in this world, leaders such as Bush, Obama, and now Trump—along with their toadies, handlers and wealthy benefactors—would be frog marched to the Hague and tried for crimes against humanity. But then again, the Hague itself is a farce as they go about convicting petty tyrants while giving cover to monsters who bleed the entire planet for the sake of the next marginal dollar.

It’s like we are living in bizarro world where evil men are celebrated as heroes and those who defend their nations are painted as terrorists.

Just yesterday, at the blessing and behest of the commander-in-thief Trump, our military shot down a Syrian jet in their own nation. By what right do we have to be there to begin with? America is turning the concept of the United Nations into the travesty that it always has been from its inception. An organization founded to stop nation-state belligerence does no such thing; in reality the United Nations is nothing more than platform for super powers and colonialists to impose their will on the rest of the planet. Our government, which is plainly illegitimate considering that a super-majority of Americans give it a vote of no-confidence, is an entity which follows no laws as it dictates laws for the rest of the world. How laughable, people like McCain, Pelosi, Pence and Schumer get to preach about Democracy while making a mockery of it here at home.

I would call this hypocrisy but this would not do it justice. Hypocrisy is benign malevolence, what our government practices is outright mendacity. We have been in a state of continuous war for the past 50 years; it’s a right of passage for presidents to start their own wars as if bloodshed is a toy train to play with in the West Wing. One administration after another hops on Northrup Grumman and Boeing made missiles as if they are Dr. Strangelove reinvented. I would be in awe of this level of deception and disinformation if it was not so vile and wicked. The same system that pretends to be benevolent as it literally blows holes in the hearts of millions has us, the people, deceived enough to be addicted to politics to the point where we give the little money we have left to millionaire politicians who get (s)elected to pillage us.

I must give it to Obama, he was the biggest deception of them all as the oligarchy pulled the wool over all our eyes by presenting us an empty suit as the next coming of Lincoln. Obama won the Nobel Peace prize, I would say this was absurdity at its apex but it’s actually poetic justice. The Nobel Peace Committee is sham just like the Hague as they confer peace prizes to the same people who start the wars they pretend to finish. It’s fitting, Alfred Nobel was a shyster and an arms dealer; his brand of TNT blew apart more lives than Mount Vesuvius. Now they give us Trump—a carnival barker.

This self-promoting ogre and town idiot is driving his base to Jim Jones level adoration and the opposition into a tailspin of derangement. This is why he was foisted upon us, to have us all in a tizzy and the public in perpetual conflict so the gentry could go on pillaging us. And of course, we fall for it!

Do you see a common theme here? Those who have the money and means get to purchase justice while those who have none of it are treated to perpetual injustice. The reason why this is not plainly evident and why another revolution has yet to come to fruition is because the powerful have the one weapon at their disposal that is even more lethal than the bombs dropped over Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This weapon is the media and they have deployed it against the world and the rest of us here in America. Truth is inverted by the snakes in mainstream media as repugnant pundits and fraudulent “journalists” give cover to this miscarriage of justice and refuse to speak truth to power.

The heartbreaking violence in Venezuela must stop. I stand with President @JGuaido, the National Assembly, and the people of #Venezuela as they embrace their right to live in peace, choose their leaders, and decide their future, in harmony with their neighbors. — Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) February 24, 2019

This picture you see above was taken by a photographer named Kenneth Jarecke during the first Iraq war and then submitted to his editor. In the most shocking way, the executives of America’s mainstream media outlets colluded to keep this picture away from the eye of the public. The same fourth estate that was supposed to be speaking truth to power instead worked hand in hand with war mongers in our government in order to keep this most gruesome of images hidden from their audience? Why? Because wars are supposed to be entertaining and fun! Wars are supposed to be about fancy props and CNN style three dimensional graphics. Wars are cash cows for media, politicians and the military-financial complex alike. The yellow press hyenas don’t want to mess up this hustle by showing us the hell that wars really are.

What we get are wars that are sterilized; the death and destruction that is showered upon citizens through phosphorous clouds is overlooked and we instead see PlayStation version of wars. CNN, Washington Post, Fox News, and the rest present genocides as fun facts while mass murder is televised zoomed out far enough so that we see pixels being bombed instead of realizing that each dot is a mother, father, or child being snuffed out. This is how humanity is reduced and how true evil is normalized; we are so inundated with outrage and breaking news carnage that we have come to accept horrors as a water cooler chatter. Humanity eradicated on a day to day basis; we treat these things as quaint talking points over Starbucks lattes and gluten free biscottis as we partake in the next hashtag protest.

The victims of these egregious wars are not just innocent people overseas; go to your nearest city and you will encounter the poor, the marginalized and one homeless veteran after another who have been broken by endless policies of manifest aggression. Every 20 minutes, a veteran commits suicide unable to cope with the memory of death seared in his or her mind. The plight of veterans is turned into a means of selling cars and bumper stickers. “Thank you for your service” is uttered in passing as we continue shopping disconnected from the reality of never-ending hostilities. This depraved war against terror thus perpetuates itself; a thousand pigs eating at the trough of bloodshed—they are feeding on humanity.

What is done to others with bombs and bullets is done to us with disinformation and pervasive infringements on our rights. The National Defense Authorization Act that was signed by Barack Obama in the dead of night– a law that empowered the Department of Defense to “counter disinformation and propaganda”–was a naked power grab usually pulled off by autocrats like Hitler during the night of the long knives. The NDAA is a poison pill that silences speech and restricts freedom of press. Keep an eye on this article on Facebook and social media; if this article is removed or flagged, take it as a sign that there is a concerted effort to sterilize truth the same way the picture of the Iraqi burned alive in the tank is rarely found on the internet.

The supposed “free press” and our cancerous government would make Joseph Goebbels proud.

I will let readers decide, is what you read here propaganda? Do I sound like a man who hates my nation or am I a person who cherishes the ideals enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights? The meme of “fake news” was meant to discredit people like me who try to expose the lies of the powerful. Freedoms don’t die overnight nor do they perish in one instant; our rights are bled away one small drip at a time. We have a choice as a people; do we want to keep being fed lies and propaganda and letting the notion of a free press be dictated by Wall Street and the moneyed gentry? Or are we better off seeking information and consuming news from truth-tellers who are not connected to a global system of greed and gluttony that is kneecapping humanity?

We as Americans need to say enough! If we keep looking away while profiteers and plutocrats keep declaring wars overseas, soon enough those wars will boomerang home. We are one bad decision and one false move away from all of us eating mushroom clouds for breakfast. Perhaps we need to stop focusing on the salacious and turning everything into a political sport and actually unite to reclaim our government from the hands of colonial neo-fascists who reside on both side of the political divide.

Or we can continue down the path of the Germans in the 1930’s and refuse to speak up against thugs who are setting the globe on fire with their greed. That did not end well for Germans; it will not end well for our our future. Don't let our future be that of Dresden or else the face of death mainstream media never show us will be made evident in high definition reality before US. #FaceOfWar Click To Tweet

Let me end this communique by turning to active duty military personnel and veterans, as a man who has always revered the bravery and courage of people who put on the uniform, I can say with all earnestness that I have and will continue to admire your tenacity and dedication to something greater than yourself. My condemnation of rulers should not be seen as a judgement against those who sign up for the military.

Had it not been for my youthful idiocy, I could have gone to West Point and joined my father in being a part of a proud fraternity of warriors and brothers bonded by honor. My lineage is full of soldiers, both my grandfathers fought against Mussolini and I am directly related to Emperor Tewodros II, who was a fierce Ethiopian jegna (warrior). I don’t say this to boast, royalty is not in a title but in the way one lives his life in service to humanity. However, as I noted in my open letter to the military, before country and duty comes God and the commitment that all of you have to humanity. We are entering dangerous territory where depraved souls are trying to incite a global conflagration, I don’t have to spell out what that could mean for you, your loved ones and your children’s future.

A time will come where you will be faced with tough decisions, when that time comes, just remember that chain of command is not greater than the chain of love that binds the total of humanity. Our times here on earth are limited, all of us in time will return back to the dust that gave birth to us. But there are repercussions to all things, the decisions we make in our lifetimes shall either redeem us or burn us for an eternity. I pray you make the right choice. I salute you in silence.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” ~ Matthew 5:9

*This article was updated Sunday, February 24th, in light of the Trump administration yet again trying to destabilize a nation that never attacked us in an attempt to steal their natural resources. #HandsOfVenezuela

Today, instead of asking you to contribute to the Ghion Journal, I ask you to contribute to an association that strives to take care of wounded veterans. The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit that is dedicated dedicated to identifying and helping active duty military personnel and veterans who suffer from the horrible tolls of war. Please consider making a contribution to the Wounded Warrior Project by clicking HERE or on the logo below.

Silent Salute

To the soldiers who sacrificed

Did their duty without asking

I express outrage against injustice

Over immoral wars and endless carnage

I am speaking out for you in the process

Veterans in the end understand one thing

Their fellow men were never their enemy

To this day fierce rivals from past conflicts

Embrace after the last bullets have been fired

Soldiers salute and do their duty that is best

The sorrows they go through alone

Trauma induced by bodies and reduced humanity

Only to come back home and encounter Satan’s embrace

Flash backs prompting cold sweats

Bullets and blood droplets

Too much for the mind to process

Those who die in wars are fortunate

It’s the veterans, the survivors

Who carry the burdens of these remembrances

Fallen comrades and innocent children

Indiscriminately swallowed whole by turbulence

Tears mixing with blood stains

Cries drowned out by battle drums

War is humanity’s utmost blemish

Concealed by propaganda and theatrics

Patriotism birthing negligence

Our conscience is subverted into ignorance

As we enjoy disengagement’s bliss

Veterans suffer depression’s kiss

Politicians, profiteers and Hollywood

Glorifying war horrors by bending reality

Obfuscating suffering with special effects and rhetoric

But to the soldier their truth is the opposite

Rat-tat-tat-tat bullets shattering God’s presence

Untold masses disappearing into graves and silence

We wave flags thanking them for service

They shiver alone bearing the cost of compliance

Final judgments by way of triggers and buttons

Only to come back home

Shock and awe replaced by shock trauma

Nightmares that never end

Being continually transported back to mayhem

The battle field redrawn into the mind’s synapses

Piercing quietness with shrieks and terrors

Spouses who grow estranged

Children unable to comprehend

Concern pixelating into absence

Loneliness the only friend that remains

The proud and few become islands

Invisible wounds breaking cognizance

This is why so many end up homeless

Many more embracing suicide’s cuddle

Despair muffles life and blends into darkness

To be met by society’s mind numbing indifference

We step over them daily

Once warriors turned into the indigent

Salutes being returned with diffidence

Yet in this silence I stand for you

May God forever bless you

Where you are broken

May you mend into fullness

Sergeant Black in DC

Vietnam War survivor

Gunny Stevens in Greenville

Korean War survivor

Derrick in Colorado

Iraq War survivor

Frank in Ankeny Iowa

World War II survivor

Countless others who I have met

Had the honor of sharing meals with

May your struggles be fleeting

But your blessings be eternal