I was sitting by myself in a bar in Cali, Colombia when I suddenly burst into tears. Seemingly out of nowhere and for no apparent reason, the tears just flooded down my cheeks and I could not stop them. I didn’t know why I was bawling but I was conscious of being in a public place and needed to get out of there. I took a taxi back to my hotel where the crying continued. The next day I flew home to Canada on a journey filled with more inexplicable tears. During a layover in Panama City I sat in an airport restaurant crying for more than an hour. On the long flight to Toronto I cried some more. What was happening to me? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I was having an emotional breakdown. Continue reading
Tag Archives: war
Greening Warfare?: Lockheed Martin’s Sustainability Agenda
The largest weapons manufacturer in the world is focusing more of its massive wealth and resources on addressing energy sustainability issues. As the top defence contractor in the United States, Lockheed Martin has pocketed billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars developing and manufacturing nuclear-capable Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, depleted uranium weapons systems, unmanned aerial drones, fighter jets, stealth bombers and literally hundreds of other forms of military weaponry and logistical support systems. In short, Lockheed Martin has achieved its place on Forbes’ Fortune 500 list by being in the business of war; or, more precisely, the business of death. So does the company’s growing interest in energy sustainability represent a desire to shift away from producing killing machines and towards protecting all life on the planet? Is it merely an attempt to create a positive environmental image? Or does it constitute a greening of warfare?
Troubling New Military Strategy in Afghanistan
With the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan struggling on the battlefield against a resilient insurgency and opium poppy cultivation on the rise, Navy admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently suggested that the United States should import the counterinsurgency and counternarcotics model currently being employed in Colombia to Afghanistan. “I think many of us from all over the world can learn from what has happened with respect to the very successful developments of Plan Colombia,” Mullen stated, adding that the counterinsurgency approach used in Colombia would be applicable to Afghanistan. Continue reading
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“A gripping tale of savagery and terror, but also of tenderness, compassion, and renewal.” —Noam Chomsky
Garry Leech 