Category Archives: War Notes

Germany voted to rearm—Did the Earth Move? Gwynne Dyer Says Yes

Keeping the ‘Rule of Law’ Alive
/ Politics / By Gwynne Dyer
19 March 2025

Last Tuesday [March 18 2025)] there was a vote in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, that may have changed the course of history. When the vote came out ‘Yes’, you could feel the tectonic plates shift. Germany has voted to rearm.

In an ideal world, disarming would have been the better choice, but we are not in that world. The United States has changed sides and Donald Trump is about to deliver a besieged Ukraine that he has deliberately starved of weapons into the hands of his good friend, the invader Vladimir Putin.

The Bundestag’s decision was not just about Ukraine. It is about the ‘rule of law’, which can be summed up in one sentence: henceforward, no country shall expand its border by force. Borders may be ‘unfair’ and they are almost always the result of past violence, but you must live within them in peace forever (unless you can negotiate voluntary changes).

What kind of fools would try to impose such an extreme and idealistic rule on the world?

Continue reading Germany voted to rearm—Did the Earth Move? Gwynne Dyer Says Yes

Do Ukraine’s Ceasefire Hopes Hang on Trump’s Nobel Fever Dreams?

 

Ukraine: Maybe a short cease-fire, maybe not

By Gwynne Dyer –  Mar 14, 2025

What’s hard to keep in mind, with all the hype that’s flying around, is that there’s no particular reason for either side in the Ukraine war to want a cease-fire right now, let alone a full peace settlement. The only one who’s in a hurry is Donald Trump, and that’s just because he’s terminally impatient.

The war, which has just passed its third anniversary, is as deeply stuck in the mud as the First World War that it so closely resembles. Continue reading Do Ukraine’s Ceasefire Hopes Hang on Trump’s Nobel Fever Dreams?

Pete Hegseth The Crusader Reveals the Two Truly-Madly-Deeply Lethal Loves of His Life

In official statements, Pete Hegseth calls the first one, “Lethality.”

Usually it’s a dry, abstract word. A term that’s launched a thousand PowerPoint slide shows. It’s ideal for air-conditioned classrooms, lit by rows of long tubular fluorescent bulbs. Under the lights, as it is repeated, rows of men in uniform listen, many taking notes, or (if it’s shortly after lunch, struggleto keep their eyes open).

Or at a crowded congressional hearing. “If you’re confirmed as Secretary of Defense,” asked a U. S. Senator, “what would be your mission, Mr. Hegseth?”

It’s the first  significant noun he emits (after, of course, the name Trump), in a crisply-memorized litany:

“He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, war-fighting, accountability and readiness.”

Continue reading Pete Hegseth The Crusader Reveals the Two Truly-Madly-Deeply Lethal Loves of His Life

The Shadow at the Pride Festival

A year ago last Saturday, the Friends Meeting I’m part of took a big step, for us: we rented a booth at the Alamance Pride Festival, held in a large park in downtown Burlington NC.

The Spring booth, with a blogger on duty at the table.

Outwardly, our booth was not particularly eye-catching. Amid the fluttering of a thousand floating rainbows, the yellow table banner we made for it is about as gaudy as we get. Spring Friends Meeting has been what many call an “affirming” congregation for more than a dozen years, and we’ve paid our share of dues for that. But we didn’t do it for publicity, and we haven’t done much of what many others call evangelism, which we’d  rather name “outreach.” We have  lots of opinions about things, but are  mostly quiet about them.

Maybe too quiet. Spring has been gathering for Quaker worship in southern Alamance County for 251 years, but we soon found out in the booth that hardly anyone we talked to knew we were there.  Which meant that Pride was a great opportunity for our outreach aspirations, but it also brought home the suspicion that maybe we had been a bit too ready to “hide our lamp under a bushel,” for much of those two-and-a-half centuries, which is something the gospel says not to do. There’s a false modesty which at bottom is mostly a mix of snobbery and pride.
Continue reading The Shadow at the Pride Festival

Dyer: Gaza Civilian Deaths: Who Really Cares?

Gaza death toll nears 40,000 — who cares?

Gwynne Dyer — 29 Jul, 2024

Many people around the world are calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and its huge toll of civilian casualties. But Gwynne Dyer argues that this chorus does not include the handful of key actors in the bloody drama.

The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip since October’s Hamas attacks on Israeli settlements will reach 40,000 people in the next week or so. (It’s back up near 50-100 civilians dead a day.)

Continue reading Dyer: Gaza Civilian Deaths: Who Really Cares?