• Skip to content

Women's Legacy Project

Our Lives Change The World

  • Nancy Hill Author
  • Autoethnography
  • Curation
  • Online Writing
  • Permission to Write
  • Blog
  • Home

Endless War and Women

Blogging & Writing, Creekside Commentary, Home & Family, Politics and Government / June 18, 2014 by womenslegacy / 15 Comments

An overt political rant is simmering within me.  As some of you know, I spent a good chunk of my life, resources, and precious time when my daughter was in her teen years doing peace work.  I joined with CodePink Women for Peace in February of 2003 in the streets of DC and last worked with them in DC in October of 2010.  Seven years of my life were spent countering the deceit that the Bush administration promulgated to justify waging war on Iraq.  All the information that has “come out” in the last many years  was known in 2002.   Barbara Lee reminds us of this.

 
I have little respect left for “the media.”  The well-scripted talking heads on most cable news and Sunday shows court, kowtow, and lend the legitimacy of broadcast to the architects of the lies that created the framework to support the  invasion of Iraq.  MSNBC is a notable exception.  But they too, far too often,  synthesize and sanitize the reports that they air with repetitive sound bytes rather than journalistic presentations.
It can be easy to forget  that the “borders” of countries are usually nothing more than calcified artifacts of the spoils of war.  I recommend reading The Map that Ruined the Middle East. to refresh your knowledge about the historical partitioning of the old Ottoman and Persian empires.  It is a very readable article for those of us who have little tolerance for military history and will allow you to speak on why the words Sunni and Shia, and Arab and Persian are at the core of the violence and horror that is playing out in the Middle East, Africa, and in parts of the old Soviet empire.  When reading this, do remember that all writing stems from a viewpoint.  The viewpoint behind The Tower is conservative and comes from The Israel Project that is based in Jerusalem. We screwed up an already mangled situation in the Middle East when we supported the Shah of Iran, Saddam Hussein in Iraq  (Yes, Virginia  we supported Iraq during the Iran Iraq War.  Remember the infamous scene  shown below?) and later when we invaded Iraq under both Bush I and II.

As women, as mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, isn’t it time that we say, “Stop.”  Stop marching blindly forward. Stop acting from political positions.  Stop acting like walking on the path we are on will lead us to anywhere but extinction.
At some point every mother learns that you cannot change everything in the world, but you can give your children the healthiest meals you can, provide the safest shelter for your children that you can, and inform the individuals we have entrusted with our governance what we need to raise our children.  All we can do is the best we can.  We are facing environmental and climate change on a scale that will leave our descendants in an unstable, scarcely life-supporting world  that we would not even recognize as our dear old Mother Earth.  It is time for the leaders of the world to listen to the leaders of families.
It is time to think sensibly, like a woman, and clean this mess up.  There is no room in our planetary home to allow religion, corporate profits, or political or technological allegiances to distract us from the real work of building a sustainable future for our children’s children’s children.  Let’s put down the placards, the weapons, the labels of left and right, and even the dogma that overlays our Holy Books, and start building a sustainable peace.  Like always, it is ultimately up to the women organize ourselves and our families in productive, sustainable tasks that work toward a better tomorrow.
We cannot all run for office, but we all sure as eggs is eggs, can tell every one of our elected officials that we want war to stop, we want them to stop funding war,  and for all of them to start discussing sane, logically constructed approaches to responding to and redirecting processes that are destroying our lives and world.
 
 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beverly Diehl

    June 18, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    As they say, it’s an old man’s war, but a young man’s fight. Now, a young men’s and women’s fight. And people never, ever come back from war the same, even if they are physically unharmed.

    Reply
    • Nancy Hill

      June 18, 2014 at 8:38 pm

      You are so right! There is no justification for the harm we do waging war.

      Reply
  2. Carol Cassara

    June 18, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    I’m behind you 100%.

    Reply
    • Nancy Hill

      June 18, 2014 at 2:11 pm

      I know you are. We can make a difference. Call your reps! Ask friends to do likewise!

      Reply
  3. Transitioning Mom

    June 18, 2014 at 2:06 pm

    Amen to this!
    “It is time to think sensibly, like a woman, and clean this mess up. There is no room in our planetary home to allow religion, corporate profits, or political or technological allegiances to distract us from the real work of building a sustainable future for our children’s children’s children.”

    Reply
    • Nancy Hill

      June 18, 2014 at 2:10 pm

      It is not a fun task to talk to congresspersons and senators and their minions, but I think it is time to make our voice heard – collectively!

      Reply
  4. Lois Alter Mark

    June 18, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    YES! I hope Hillary runs and wins, and the world is completely changed when female power changes the way we see and do things.

    Reply
    • Nancy Hill

      June 18, 2014 at 6:02 pm

      Female power does change everything. I would love to see Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic Ticket!

      Reply
  5. Helene Cohen Bludman

    June 18, 2014 at 6:11 pm

    I am aligned with you politically 100%. We can’t sit idly by. We need to make our voices heard individually and cooectively.

    Reply
    • Nancy Hill

      June 18, 2014 at 7:48 pm

      I am so pleased to see women whose work I respect with me on this one. Thanks Helene.

      Reply
  6. CaptCruncher

    June 18, 2014 at 9:12 pm

    Call me the choir! We can sing loudly together and not stop singing until we feel change — not just promises of peace and understanding but real shifts in both actions and thinking. I believe in voicing my opinion, paying attention, remembering, and voting!

    Reply
    • Nancy Hill

      June 18, 2014 at 11:12 pm

      We may all be choir members, but if enough of us raise our voices then others will hear.

      Reply
  7. https://www.judyleedunn.com

    June 21, 2014 at 9:56 am

    I absolutely love your blog. You have a new subscriber.
    Having been a peace activist in the 60s, during the Viet Nam War, I see so many parallels and wondering, “Why didn’t we learn our lesson—form all that grief and 57,000+ Americans killed in that war?” But here we are, meddling in another civil war.
    And, yes, Sunni vs Shia violence has been going on for centuries.
    Thought-provoking post here. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Sisters From Another Mister

    June 23, 2014 at 10:24 am

    Amen.
    Just read your post with my 12 yr old and 16 yr old daughters.
    We applaud you.
    We also have a Ready For Hillary bumper sticker.

    Reply
    • Nancy Hill

      June 23, 2014 at 8:25 pm

      I am touched that you shared this with your daughters. Thank you for raising informed girls. We so need them.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Articles

  • Women and Early Spring
  • When Christmas is Sad
  • Long Time No Write
  • Reflections
  • Zoom
  • Yearn
  • Xenial in Xanadu

© 2025, Nancy Hill, Women's Legacy Projects & Press of Hill Research Services, LLC

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT