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How optimistic are you about peace talks in Ukraine?
An end to the killing would be reason to rejoice, but the news I read from Europe suggests we might already be on an ineluctable path to war.
Doctors in Belgium are to receive extra training to prepare them for treating war casualties, we have reported.
And now the health minister of the German state of Bavaria is calling for “war-ready” hospitals.
This could be prudent contingency planning, but when you factor in huge increases in military spending and the ongoing debate on the reintroduction of conscription, you can’t but feel uneasy.
Huge military spending is, historically, almost always a precursor to war. And there are growing signs of authorities preparing the general public for the inevitable.
“War is at the door,” said Hadja Lahbib, the Brussels Commissioner for crisis management, earlier this month.
In the past — up until the First World War — leaders declared war and populations followed obediently.
But since then, governments have found it necessary to justify military escapades (think: weapons of mass destruction).
Can the European leaders of today throw us into a war we don’t want? Probably not, and for this reason there will have to be a prolonged, intense period of propaganda prior to any offensive move.
The die is not yet cast.
Justin Stares
Carl Deconinck |
Ralph Schoellhammer
