Modern Ukraine: What's just and democratic - a people's right to self-determination in the face of authoritarian dictates or a post-Soviet state's insistence on immutable territorial integrity?

 

Modern Ukraine: What's just and democratic - a people's right to self-determination in the face of authoritarian dictates or a post-Soviet state's insistence on immutable territorial integrity?

Gregory Krasovsky

February 24, 2022

  

I don't often cite or share articles from CounterPunch (see below), but when I do...it's just food for thought.
 
BTW, the American in me has always favored a people's right to self-determination -- which, IMHO should be applied honestly, fairly, without bias and consistently -- over a country's government-protected right to territorial integrity.
 
So does the Ukrainian in me who spent the first four years of his life living in a coal-mining village near the city of Luhansk in the Donetsk Coal Basin (Donbas) of Eastern Ukraine.
   
But throughout history, Monarchs, Emperors, Kings & Queens, Kaisers, Caesars, Tsars, Sultans, Khans, Pharaohs and many a Supreme Leader or just a local Feudal Lord cringed at the concept of a people's right to self-determination and tried to nip in the bud or chop off that pesky thought whenever it started to rear its democracy-oriented head.

What? You people think that you can just hold a people's referendum and leave my/or country, kingdom, empire, republic, or union?
 
Without my/our permission?

How dare you?

Who gave you the right?
 
What makes you people think that you can make this decision locally without getting the approval of the rest of us (who don't live in your land) and our government/sovereign?
 
How ungrateful can you be for all that I/we have done for you?
 
How can you betray my/our rule and state?
 
Would you leave our state and then plot or ally against us with our enemies?

   
Doesn't this sound like some dialogue right out of the Game of Thrones?
 
Forget about Hollywood!
 
Remember when the African slaves rebelled in Haiti against France back around 1802?

And France instituted a naval blockade of Haiti -- with the support of newly founded democratic U.SA., whose Southern states (full of plantations & African Slaves) got a little worried that the Haitian revolt might become contagious?

And then demanded that the Haitian slaves pay France in reparations the market cost for each slave?

And milked Haiti until the 20th century without any U.S. objections even after slavery ended in the U.S. after the Civil War in 1865?
 
What happened to the Haitian slaves' right to freedom and self-determination?
 
The Vietnamese learned that as well when they had to fight against their French colonial masters after WWII.
 
What about Native/Indigenous Americans ("American Indians")?

Would today's America, after the Civil Rights Movement (50+ years have already passed!), BLM, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and WOKE-ism, ever permit a Native American tribe to exercise their right to self-determination, become truly sovereign from the U.S. and live independently of our country?
 
Remember when during President Obama's term in office (Hilary Clinton was the Secretary of State), a Native American tribe from Upstate New York and Canada wanted to travel to England for the World Lacrosse championship (a Native American game, by the way) with their Native American Passports?
 
And even though the British were willing to let them enter the UK with those passports, the post-9/11/01 U.S. would not provide written guarantees that it would permit these Native Americans to re-enter the U.S. (presumably at JFK airport) with these non-U.S. passports ("What if they're Al Qaeda?") in transit to their reservations (tribal lands)?
 
After all, America
 

- supported Taiwan in its independence & refusal to rejoin communist China,
 
- encouraged & facilitated the break-up of the Soviet Union,

- Supported the Tibetan people's struggle for independence from Communist China,
 
- encouraged the break-up of former communist/socialist Serbian-ruled Yugoslavia (into Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and [North] Macedonia) and then helped Kosovo separate from Serbia (Pro-Russian) with a massive bombing campaign & war that killed thousands of civilians,
 
- Encouraged the Chechen war for the Republic of Ichkeria's independence against Russia (even though it was funded and partially fought by Islamists, Wahhabis, and some of those who survived went on later to join Al Qaeda and ISIS)

- Eventually supported East Timur's independence from Indonesia,
 
- helped South Sudan (with oil deposits) separate from the North.

 
But then again, America did NOT help and opposed (either actively or tacitly/surreptitiously)
 

- Southern Nigeria (with recently discovered oil deposits) gain its independence from the predominantly Muslim Northern Nigeria and supported the federal Nigerian government in the brutal Biafran War (over 1 million civilians killed in the South) only 7 years after Nigeria won its independence from the U.K.    
 
- The Palestinians establish their own state next door to Israel,
 
- Abkhazians (Pro-Russian Muslim folks) and Southern Ossetians (Pro-Russian with most of their ethnos living in Russian Ossetia next door) gain their autonomy and independence from Post-Soviet Georgia in the early 1990s.

   
Forget about America, just look at all the recent conflicts about a people's right to self-determination and their own country (or desire to join another country), such as

• Northern Ireland,
• Scottish referendum to leave the U.K.,
• Catalonia in Spain, 
• Basque country in Spain,
• The French Canadian's struggle for autonomy in Quebec, 
• Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico, 
• The Kurds' struggle for statehood/autonomy in Turkey, Syria and Iraq 
• Western Sahara struggle for independence from Morocco,  
• East Timur's recently won independence from Indonesia, 
• The Shiite Houthi struggle for power and autonomy in Yemen against the Saudi Arabia backed  
• The Muslim Rohingya people's struggle for equal rights in Burma/Myanmar, 
• The Sikh people’s desire to create an independent state from India in Punjab called Khalistan, 
• The Tamil Tigers' struggle to create an independent state, Eelam, in Sri Lanka,   

and etc.    

By now, you probably get the picture.

The U.S. and its allies, including many European countries, who publicly profess to be the staunchest defenders of freedom, human rights & democracy world-wide, end up being very selective -- depending on geopolitics and money from natural resources -- when it comes to supporting a people's right to self-determination of statehood.
 
Western Democracies will support independence movements world-wide only when it fits their geopolitical objectives and/or profitable.

Otherwise, Western Democracies, like most other states, will support territorial integrity (i.e. government/state power over people).  
 
Just imagine Texans voting to leave the U.S.!

Even if the residents of Texas voted 99% to leave the Union, you'd see the full power of the U.S. military remind them how the Confederate States were brought back during the American Civil War in 1861-1865, even though modern Texas doesn't have slaves but just more conservative Republicans than most "Northern" States!
 
The recent situations in East and Central Europe since 1991 are not different, including Ukraine since 2014.

As an example of double-standards, I'd bet my bottom dollar that America and its NATO/EU allies would have supported a pro-Western Anti-Russian L’viv or Carpathian People's Republic if in 2014 "Pro-Russian" Ukrainian President Yanukovich managed to hold on to power and Western Ukraine tried to declare "governmental sovereignty" (i.e. autonomy) against the Ukrainian government.

Which is what the Pro-Russian Luhansk & Donetsk People's Republics did in 2014 (citing the illegal overthrow of lawfully & democratically elected President Yanukovich).

So did the Pro-Russian population of Crimea, who wasn't happy with being transferred to Ukraine by Soviet leader Khrushchev in 1954 and did not want to stay in post-Yanukovich Ukraine governed by Pro-American and Anti-Russian Ukrainian Nationalists.

They exercised the people's right to self-determination.  

Should the people of regions that were un-democratically and forcefully incorporated into modern Ukraine by totalitarian Soviet communist / Bolshevik regimes & leaders (like Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev) be allowed to hold referendums on what country they want their regions to re-join (if not create their own mini-state), like Poland (1939), Slovakia (1945), Hungary (1945), Romania (1945) and/or Russia (1922 and 1954)?
      
So in light of all that, what's the solution?
 
For Ukraine and for any other independence/autonomy/self-governance movement mentioned above?
    
Just as important, how should the United States, its people and allies consistently treat the people's right to self-determination, both at home and abroad, with respect to democratic principles and inalienable human rights?

What do you think?
 
As always, please don't forget to comment and share for thought & discussion!
 
***
 
The Territorial Integrity of States vs. the Self-Determination of Peoples.
by John Whitbeck
CounterPunch
February 24, 2022
 
Two often-cited principles, each with established roots in international law, are frequently in conflict — the territorial integrity of states and the self-determination of peoples.
 
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/24/the-territorial-integrity-of-states-vs-the-self-determination-of-peoples/
 
*** 

War in Ukraine - A modern example of how indispensable but expendable universal soldiers and ordinary people become victims and participants in the business (racket) of war.

War in Ukraine - A modern example of how indispensable but expendable universal soldiers and ordinary people become victims and participants in the business (racket) of war.

 

Greg Krasovsky
February 23, 2022
 
Today, I accidentally came across a music video of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier".
 
Then I listed to Buffy Sainte-Marie's "The War Racket"
 
What a coincidence! Or Divine Providence? As they say, "The Lord works in mysterious ways!"
 
Wow! Very relevant and enlightening.
         
Today, when all the news is about Invasion, War & Occupation of Ukraine!
      
Ukraine may not be Vietnam, the Former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria, but it is my ancestral home.
 
So after thinking of universal soldiers and the war racket, here's what came to my mind
 
Buffy Sainte-Marie's songs are a good reminder of why wars start, who makes them happen and how we all share the responsibility when our country
 
- goes to war,
 
- directs proxy wars,
 
- encourages, aids & abets, facilitates, or provide political, economic or military support, including material aid (weapons, logistics, intelligence & etc.),
 
- Rallies other countries to war, and
 
- Engages in propaganda, misinformation, or other psychological operations, including with mainstream and social media in preparation, justification or in execution of war.
      
In war there are generally three types of soldiers
 
1. Those who defend their families, people, land, country, faith, and G-d from invasion & occupation,

   - this is the easiest type of war to understand and justify, since all people and every country is entitled to self-defense.
 
2. Those who go to other people's lands under orders & justifications of
 
(a) Preemptive War
 
   - "If we don't attack them first, then they attack us," possibly with weapons of mass destruction,
 
   - "If we don't defeat them there, then they will come to us and bring war & death on our soil",

   - "If we let them (i) grow in strength (military, political or economic) and numbers or (ii) acquire certain resources, territories, or weapons, then they will be able to attack & hurt us, so in order to prevent it we need to hit them first!"
       
(b) War of conquest or liberation justified by morals, theology, or history
 
- We're going to war to protect freedom & democracy, to overthrow a brutal tyrant, to protect, liberate or save a particular ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic group,
 
   - We're going to war to defend a certain religious group, to fight people of a particular faith, or two fulfill some divine mission & precept (like holy war)
 
   - We're going to war to protect, liberate or recover some land, city, landmark or holy place with a mandate from our G-d or Past & present religious leaders,
 
   - We're going to war to protect, defend, liberate, or recover some territory because it historically belongs to our country, our people, our faith.
 
3. Those who fight in civil wars -- wars among their own people (ethnos, race, religious group) and/or within their own countries or lands (if a country's borders were established disregarding natural boundaries of various ethnic & religious groups) -- for various reasons:
 
   - Support of a particular political ideology, group or leader,
 
   - Support of a particular socio-economic group or order,
 
   - Support of a particular ethnicity, religious group or faith.
   
When it comes to war, no one is going to reinvent the wheel -- wars will take place for one of the above reasons, either actual or contrived!
 
With the above in mind for clarity, all I can say is:
 
If your country is about to get involved or is already involved in any way in a domestic (civil) or foreign war (far away or next door) which kills not just soldiers (who're someone's son, nephew, brother, father, uncle, husband or friend) but innocent civilians, including women, children and the elderly,
 
then you better make sure that there is 100% moral justification for this war.

Please remember, when it comes to making or supporting decisions on war (which involves killing human beings), ignorance of the truth or
 
"I was just (i) following orders, (ii) trusting my government, (iii) relying on our corporate or government-owned mass media, (iii) following the opinion of my family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, fellow citizens, politicians, religious leaders and etc.)"
 
is not going to be a valid excuse, during a trial for war crimes & crimes against humanity, especially in that heavenly court after death where we all will stand before our Maker!
 
So in order to make that judgment about why war is necessary, you better do all your homework and learn ALL the facts from reliable, competent and independent sources so you don't fall victim to the typical propaganda that precedes, accompanies and follows every war!    
   
Always ask yourself
 
- What are the motives and means for the pro-war media coverage (propaganda)?
 
- Who can I trust for truthful information about this conflict?

- Have I analyzed information and arguments from both sides of the conflict, including regular people who have the most to lose?
       
- Who will benefit from this war (aside from the Military-Industrial Complex)? Common people? Certain politicians & their parties? Certain financial-industrial groups? Certain religious leaders & their organizations?

- Are the people who're advocating for war willing to go fight themselves or send their children to fight and die?

- Is this war absolutely necessary? Can it be avoided? Remember, a bad peace is always better than good war!

Once you've done all that, only then start advocating either for or against war!
 
Sadly, being an insider and an inconvenient witness to the current conflict in Ukraine, all I can say is this -- most of the people that I talk to in Ukraine, Russia and America don't have an accurate picture of what's been happening in Ukraine either today or since the 19th century!
 
If most people understood what’s really going on the ground and in the halls of power, then this conflict would not have lasted for 8 years since 2014 – the people would have been able to force their politicians & governments to accept a mutually acceptable and fair compromise peace settlement that would have been in the best interest of ALL Ukrainians, especially those living in the war-ravaged areas of the Donetsk Coal Basin (Donbas) in Eastern Ukraine.
 
So please do your homework in order for all us of to do what's truly necessary to bring the current civil conflict in Ukraine to an end through political negotiations and prevent a devastating war that could drag half the world into it, including countries with enough nuclear weapons to end human life on earth or bring back into the stone age!
   
As always, please let me know your comments & suggestions and, regardless of your position, please don't forget to share for thought & discussion!
 
***

Buffy Sainte-Marie | Universal Soldier | CBC Music Festival
 
CBC Music
Jun 13, 2019
 
Buffy Sainte-Marie performs "Universal Soldier" at the 2019 CBC Music Festival.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOuZwpGHJ7E
 
***

Universal Soldier - Buffy Sainte-Marie (Lyrics)

Matt Spies
Dec 10, 2012
 
Song - Universal Soldier
Artist - Buffy Sainte-Marie
Album - Up Where We Belong
Writers - Buffy Sainte-Marie
 
He's five foot-two and he's six feet-four

He fights with missiles and with spears

He's all of 31 and he's only 17

Been a soldier for a thousand year

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain

A Buddhist, and a Baptist, and a Jew

And he knows he shouldn't kill

And he knows he always will

Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada

He's fighting for France

He's fighting for the U.S.A

And he's fighting for the Russians

And he's fighting for Japan

And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy

He's fighting for the Reds

He says it's for the peace of all

He's the one who must decide

Who's to live and who's to die

And he never sees the writing on the wall

But without him

How would Hitler have condemned them at Labau?

Without him Caesar would have stood alone

He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war

And without him all this killing can't go on

He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame

His orders come from far away no more

They come from here and there and you and me

And brothers, can't you see?

This is not the way we put the end to war

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=devgkHzK9c8

***

[Гугл-перевод]
 
Универсальный солдат - Баффи Сент-Мари (слова)
 
Он пять футов два и шесть футов четыре

Он сражается ракетами и копьями

Ему всего 31, а ему всего 17

Был солдатом тысячу лет

Он католик, индуист, атеист, джайн

Буддист, баптист и еврей

И он знает, что не должен убивать

И он знает, что всегда будет

Убить тебя за меня, мой друг, и меня за тебя

И он борется за Канаду

Он борется за Францию

Он борется за США

И он борется за русских

И он борется за Японию

И он думает, что так мы покончим с войной.

И он борется за демократию

Он сражается за красных

Он говорит, что это для мира всех

Он тот, кто должен решить

Кому жить, а кому умереть

И он никогда не видит надпись на стене

Но без него

Как Гитлер осудил бы их в Лабау?

Без него Цезарь остался бы один

Он тот, кто отдает свое тело как оружие войны

И без него все эти убийства не могут продолжаться.

Он универсальный солдат, и он действительно виноват

Его приказы больше не поступают издалека.

Они приходят отсюда и оттуда, и ты и я

И братья, разве вы не видите?

Это не так, как мы положили конец войне
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=devgkHzK9c8
 
***

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Universal Soldier
 

YouTube search results:

 
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22Buffy+Sainte-Marie%22+%22Universal+Soldier%22

***
 
DONOVAN - The Universal Soldier

Beatnik Manfred
May 22, 2007
 
Universal soldier live
 
Song - Universal Soldier
Artist - Donovan
Writer - Buffy Sainte-Marie
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC9pc4U40sI

***

Buffy Sainte-Marie - The War Racket

The Indie Folk Music Channel
Jan 19, 2018

The War Racket off Buffy Sainte-Marie's 2017 release "Medicine Songs"

Animation by Kurt Swinghammer

Buffy Sainte-Marie - The War Racket - YouTube

Ooh you're slick

You investors in hate

You Saddams and you Bushes

You Bin Ladens and snakes

You billionaire bullies

You're a globalized curse

You put war on the masses while you clean out the purse

And that's how it's done war after war

You old feudal parasites just sacrifice the poor

You've got the cutting edge weapons

But your scam's still the same as it's been since the Romans

It's the patriot game

It's the war racket

You twisters of language

You creeps of disguise

Your disinformation

Like worms in your eyes

You privileged bankers

You gambler thieves

You profit on war

There's less money in peace

That's how it's done time after time

Country after country, crime after crime

You pretend it's religion and there's no one to blame

For the dead and impoverished in your little patriot game

Honey, that's the war racket

Got the world's greatest power and you team up with thugs

Make a fortune on weapons, destruction and drugs

But your flags and boots and uniforms start to all look the same

When both sides are killing in the patriot game

It's the war racket

And that's how it's done, and you've got our sons

In the cross-hairs of horror at the end of a gun

And your national anthems start to all smell the same

When all sides are dying in the patriot game

It's the war racket

And war is never, ever holy

It's just a greedy men's dream

And you two-faced crusaders

Both sides are obscene

War's not made by God

War's made by men

Who misdirect our attention while you thieves do your thing

And that's how it's done

About every thirty years

The rich fill their coffers

The poor fill with tears

The young fill the coffins

The old hang a wreath

The politicians get photographed with their names underneath

It's the war racket

It's the patriot game

It's the war racket
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzG_4e8yGew
 
***

[Гугл перевод]
 
Баффи Сент-Мари - Военный рэкет

Канал инди-фолк-музыки
19 января 2018 г.

Военный рэкет из релиза Баффи Сент-Мари 2017 года "Medicine Songs"

Анимация Курта Свингхаммера

Buffy Sainte-Marie — The War Racket — YouTube

О, ты ловкий

Вы инвесторы в ненависти

Вы Саддамы и вы Буши

Вы бен Ладены и змеи

Вы, миллиардеры, хулиганы

Ты глобальное проклятие

Вы навязываете войну массам, пока вы чистите кошелек

И вот как это делается война после войны

Вы, старые феодальные паразиты, просто приносите в жертву бедных

У вас есть передовое оружие

Но ваша афера все та же, что и со времен римлян.

это патриотическая игра

Это военный рэкет

Вы оборотни языка

Вы ползучести маскировки

Ваша дезинформация

Как черви в твоих глазах

Вы привилегированные банкиры

Вы азартные воры

Вы получаете прибыль от войны

В мире меньше денег

Вот как это делается время от времени

Страна за страной, преступление за преступлением

Вы притворяетесь, что это религия, и никто не виноват

Для мертвых и бедных в вашей маленькой патриотической игре

Дорогая, это военный рэкет

Получил величайшую силу в мире, и ты объединился с головорезами

Разбогатеть на оружии, разрушениях и наркотиках

Но ваши флаги, ботинки и униформа начинают выглядеть одинаково.

Когда обе стороны убивают в патриотической игре

Это военный рэкет

И вот как это делается, и у вас есть наши сыновья

В перекрестье ужаса на конце пистолета

И ваши национальные гимны начинают пахнуть одинаково

Когда все стороны умирают в патриотической игре

Это военный рэкет

И война никогда, никогда не бывает святой

Это просто жадная мужская мечта

А вы, двуличные крестоносцы

Обе стороны непристойны

Война не создана Богом

Войну делают мужчины

Кто отвлекает наше внимание, пока вы, воры, делаете свое дело

И вот как это делается

Примерно каждые тридцать лет

Богатые наполняют свои сундуки

Бедные наполняются слезами

Молодые наполняют гробы

Старые вешают венок

Политики фотографируются с их именами внизу

Это военный рэкет

это патриотическая игра

Это военный рэкет

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzG_4e8yGew

***

   
Buffy Sainte-Marie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

Buffy Sainte-Marie, CC (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, c. February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, Oscar-winning composer, visual artist,[1] educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues facing Indigenous peoples of the Americas. 

 

Her singing and writing repertoire also includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism. She has won recognition, awards and honours for her music as well as her work in education and social activism. Among her most popular songs are "Universal Soldier", "Cod'ine", "Until It's Time for You to Go", "Now That the Buffalo's Gone", and her covers of Mickey Newbury's "Mister Can't You See" and Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game". 

 

Her music has been recorded by Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Cher, Donovan, Joe Cocker, Jennifer Warnes, Barbra Streisand, Shirley Bassey, Roberta Flack, Janis Joplin, and Glen Campbell.

In 1983, Sainte-Marie became the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar. Her song "Up Where We Belong", co-written for the film An Officer and a Gentleman, won both the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 55th Academy Awards[2] and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

In 1997, she founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans.


Career

Sainte-Marie plays piano and guitar, self-taught in her childhood and teen years. In college some of her songs, "Ananias", the Indian lament, "Now That the Buffalo's Gone" and "Mayoo Sto Hoon" (a cover of a Hindi Bollywood song "Mayus To Hoon Waade Se Tere" sung by the Indian singer Mohammed Rafi from the 1960 movie Barsaat Ki Raat) were already in her repertoire.[8]
...

Also in 1963, she witnessed wounded soldiers returning from the Vietnam War at a time when the U.S. government was denying involvement[21] – which inspired her protest song "Universal Soldier",[22] released on her debut album It's My Way on Vanguard Records in 1964, and later became a hit for both Donovan and Glen Campbell.[23]

She was subsequently named Billboard magazine's Best New Artist. Some of her songs addressing the mistreatment of Native Americans, such as "Now That the Buffalo's Gone" (1964) and "My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying" (1964, included on her 1966 album), created controversy at the time.[7]

Blacklisting

Sainte-Marie said in a 2008 interview at the National Museum of the American Indian[38] that she had been blacklisted by American radio stations and that she, along with Native Americans and other Indigenous people in the Red Power movements, were put out of business in the 1970s.[39]

In a 1999 interview at Diné College with a staff writer with Indian Country Today, Sainte-Marie said "I found out 10 years later, in the 1980s, that President Lyndon B. Johnson had been writing letters on White House stationery praising radio stations for suppressing my music" and "In the 1970s, not only was the protest movement put out of business, but the Native American movement was attacked."[40]

As a result of this blacklisting led by (among others) Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Nashville disc jockey Ralph Emery (following the release of I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again), Sainte-Marie said "I was put out of business in the United States".[41]
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Sainte-Marie

***

Donovan - Universal Soldier

music in history
Jan 25, 2009

Written in the early 1960s by Canadian Buffy Sainte-Marie, Universal Soldier is commonly interpreted as being written in response to the war in Vietnam, it was actually penned before the first US combat troops arrived there.

It gained popularity after being released by Scottish folk artist Donovan in 1965.

It did well in Britain, where it was first released, reaching number five on the singles charts, though it fared less well in the United States.

The version here appears with a photo montage, with credit to YouTube user tolka.

The Universal Soldier is an unusual war-protest song because it blames war not on governments, leaders or corporations, but on the individuals who accept the notion that killing solves problems and one war can end future wars.

As implied by the title, Sainte-Marie makes no distinction between the soldiers of different nations, religions or ideologies: they fight for different causes but the same reasons.

The song prompted a hostile response from Jan Berry of the pop duo Jan and Dean, who released The Universal Coward and turned his songwriting attention on war protesters.

Some of the lyrics to Berry's song include:

He's a pacifist, an extremist, a Communist or just a Yank

A demonstrator, an agitator, or just a knave

A conscientious objector, a fanatic, a defector

And he doesn't know he's digging his own grave

He's the universal coward and he runs from anything

From a giant to a human to an elf

He runs from Uncle Sam and he runs from Vietnam

But most of all he's running from himself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A50lVLtSQik
 
***

 

U.S. Police Routinely Travel to Israel to Learn Methods of Brutality and Repression

Greg Krasovsky: As a former City of Philadelphia Police Officer (1989-1992) and a lawyer, I believe that foreign acquired police tactics -- on how to deal with protesters and/or hostile segments of populations in contested & occupied territories --  will not bring anything good to policing of American poor neighborhoods & ghettos. Have you seen the recent police brutality cases in Israel against Israeli Ethiopian Jews? 

U.S. Police Routinely Travel to Israel to Learn Methods of Brutality and Repression

Here are some key excerpts:

"When McKinney, TX police officer David Eric Casebolt brutally took down a teenage girl at a pool party in June, he was using a form of martial arts called Krav Maga in which he trained exclusively. These combat techniques were developed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

This is a small reflection of a larger reality that exists in U.S. law enforcement, one that helps explain the brutality and militarization that now characterizes so many police forces.  Since 9/11, cops have been traveling abroad to learn from one of the most repressive and dangerous State forces in the world today—the Israeli military and intelligence apparatus.
...
At least 300 high-ranking U.S. sheriffs and police from all over the country, as well as FBI and US Customs and Border Protection agents, have traveled to Israel to learn first-hand the most efficient means of subduing populations.  The purported reason is counterterrorism, but protests and crowd control methods are commonly discussed.
...
Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University, notes how militarized U.S. police reflect the training that is received in Israel and spread throughout the ranks.

“If American police and sheriffs consider they’re in occupation of neighborhoods like Ferguson and East Harlem, this training is extremely appropriate – they’re learning how to suppress a people, deny their rights and use force to hold down a subject population.”
To complement this Israeli military training that ramped up in the mid-2000s, the Pentagon and Homeland Security started the 1033 program which funneled billions of dollars of military-grade equipment to local law enforcement.  MRAPS and military weapons have become all too familiar on American streets.

What order-following, state-sanctioned thug is going to refuse the most advanced tactics and tool of repression?
...
This increasingly common scenario is indicative of law enforcement that views the populace as the enemy.  Peaceful protests of unjust government practices are fundamental to the progression of society.  Police with militarized tactics and gear are the progenitors of violence.
...
If we are to end the militarization of U.S. law enforcement, one of the most important parts of that will be stopping the training of police by the Israeli military and intelligence apparatus.  We do not want their methods of repression and brutality replicated here."

Please read the entire article at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/u-s-police-routinely-travel-israel-learn-methods-brutality-repression/