Today is International Women’s Day. Here are some words. War is the most prolific on women and children. Across the board. Full stop. 

To men or women in leadership roles in America or abroad: You cannot be a feminist, pro-democracy or pro-women with some of the crap you’ve been pulling in our foreign policy for years. I’m sorry, you know it and I know it. 

You cannot be a Democrat, Republican, independent, man, woman, a POC, congressional, POTUS or an official claiming to be a feminist, for democracy, justice or POC if you’ve been at the helm of voting for and/or leading our foreign policy into never-ending war, which has been the case since the inception of our nation in 1776. 

Some 26 years of peace in our 247 years as a nation.

If we’re all about celebrating women with these feel good awareness days and PR words, then we have to stop doing it on a platitude level and get real.

War relinquishes any agency, security and human rights. War creates destabilization, chaos, lawlessness, and horrific systemic s3x abuse and human trafficking. War is disabling and massacres societal health. War is about famines and displacement; creating tens of millions of refugees; many of which have to live in tent cities for years and even decades with no proper access to water or plumbing. Women trying to nourish their children in tent cities amongst constant violence and fear, whether from the bombs by the rich or lawless abusers living next to them, is not feminism.

War mostly affects the poor and the innocent who have no power. 

War is not the only thing that creates these conditions for women, but also the geopolitical strategy of overthrowing foreign govts, influencing foreign elections, arming and training foreign rebels to do our bidding, and regime change to govts who are willing to do West’s bidding with ulterior motives that often surround advance in power, control, geopolitical, financial or resources. BOTH US parties have been bipartisan in installing brutal right conservative regimes and dictatorships that set back progress and rights of women throughout its history. 

The U.S. has been at war for the 247 years, minus some 26 years, and it’s time to ask why.

Besides war, there’s also everything that happens after it like further disability beyond immediate impact, and generational diseases and cancer from the bombs we’ve dropped (including for military service people). Like in Laos whose women, children and men are still being blown up from bombs we dropped during Vietnam; when we used their country as a disposal unit for our weapons. Or the 20 million gallons of herbicide we dropped over Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam that has also forever affected our military service people. 

The truth is, American civilians and women have never had to experience war. This does not make us more benevolent, more worthy, more anything, but it’s time we actually dig into the real history and learn, because absolutely horrific things happen in war, and we’ve been ignorant to not only what’s been happening under our nose for decades, but the true effects of war. Not to mention unaware of all the exploitative players on the perimeters who gain power and profit from division. 

According to PubMed, In 2017 it was estimated that nearly 36 million children and 16 million women were displaced as refugees, and 265 million women and 368 million children lived dangerously close to armed conflict. No one wants the ‘others' in their countries yet they don’t ask why they need a home in the first place; it's because they’re sense of home has been destroyed many times over through foreign policy between the rich. 

Did anyone ask or did we see it splashed on the news 24/7 on what happened after we invaded Libya in 2011, unleashing the worst wide scale rape and sex trade, and open air slave trade? Did we ever ask what happened to Yemens in 2015 when we unleashed the worst famine in modern history on the poorest and smallest nation in the world, leaving starving mothers trying to feed their starving boney children? Is this pro-women? Is this pro-democracy? I think not. 

With a near trillion dollar annual US war budget (the second biggest is China at 230-300 billion dollar budget), over 800 military bases worldwide, and only 26 years of peace since we became a nation, it’s time we ask why and what the real effects of our actions are.

When we want our tax dollars to go to healthcare and issues here over destruction, over more interventionism that serves the ruling class’ interest, we, the powerless, are fear mongered as communists and told we’re privileged for wanting our dollars to go to life over death. We’re immediately asked, “How are we going to pay for it?” while Congress and the whitehouse bipartisanly approve multi hundred billion dollar funds for war quicker than we can blink. 

It’s time to ask why. 

Never forget, war is a business and extremely profitable, and our Congress members are allowed to profit from the military industrial complex that cannot exist if peace does. War is a business and has been used by power with ulterior motives throughout history to gain more power and control. Period.  

Contrary to public perception, war, according to many high security former officials, only gives rise to more terrorism, violence, lack of human rights and historic displacements. It does not create peace or solve problems like we think, it only creates more death, more violence and mass grief, anger, vulnerability and poverty. Full stop.

We are being led by platitudes and meaningless words, and I’m tired of seeing these “pro-women”, “pro-democracy” buzzwords from both parties when their policies and behavior do not reflect their never ending supply of war. This goes for all parties, including mine, and all identities, including mine. A bomb sent by a woman or POC does not make it better, so this applies to all power, including women who made it to the top, accepted by the male power structure just to turn around and do more of the same atrocities against other women on foreign soil. That’s called selective justice. Justice is justice, and you don’t get a pass on crimes against humanity just because of your identity. In fact, women have been taking over the military industrial complex leadership over the last few years with 4 of the top 5 arms industry having women CEOs, to senior US officials making and purchasing our arsenal and international arms deals. So I think the bigger question has to evolve to, “What do we humans, no matter the identity, do when we reach the top of power?”

I’ve had women and my own party call me a traitor for calling out inconvenient truths of all parties and identities who cry feminism or justice for women, and yet implement horrifying policies that do nothing but push back the rights for women on foreign soil. For me, breaking the grass ceiling is not about breaking it for yourself, it’s about making sure equality and equity exists for all, because it’s not breaking glass ceilings when your shards are killing everyone underneath you. 

This is not an anti-military service people sentiment. My father served in 2 wars, so I understand a little bit of what it does, and what it also does is it creates a lot of veterans who feel that they were not cared for when they returned home and even lied to. This message, and all my messages like this, are always at the leadership and power structures who exploit, lie and use war to gain advances in their own (geo) political agenda that hurt women, children and the innocent. 

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