Q. "Why did Bush go to war against Iraq?"

ORWELL TODAY ON WAR

A. "Because he couldn't spell Afghanistan."

To Orwell Today,

Nice site. But I can't find anything much on war. Remember, the state engaged in an endless series of wars that had dubious beginnings and motivations. See any parallels?

Best,
Ivan Goldman

Greetings Ivan,

If you mean that I don't post many news stories about war you're right, I don't. In "1984" Julia's opinion of war is mine exactly:

"She regarded the whole war as a sham...The issue struck her as unimportant. 'Who cares?' she said impatiently. 'It's always one bloody war after another, and one knows the news is all lies anyway'."

Also in "1984" Orwell tells us that:

"The entire war is spurious and is either not happening or is being waged for purposes quite other than the declared ones".

If I were to post updates on the day-to-day wars that are going on all over the world - perpetrated by one, two or all three of the super-states and/or the United Nations - against innocent, defenseless nations, I wouldn't have time for anything else.

However, this website by no means ignores war. If you read it more carefully you'll see that under the theme 12.Ministry of Peace there are many stories about war. Also you may want to go to my section entitled UNCLE SAMUEL WANTS YOU!.

If I had been alive (and knew then what I know now) during WWI and WWII I would have been an isolationist like Henry Ford and Joseph Kennedy and Charles Lindberg and George Orwell etc etc. All of them have been villified in the ensuing years but they, among many others, were not fools (obviously) and weren't fooled by all the hate-talk wherein:

"The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism".

Personally I am very well-read on the history of War and have many shelves of books on wars past, present and future. I know that the so-called War on Terror is, to again quote Orwell:

"being waged by each ruling group against its own subjects".

Also I like how Jonathan Swift describes war and have it posted on the site at: GULLIVER DESCRIBES BOMBS & WAR

He says: "Some evil genius, enemy to mankind, must have been the first contriver" and "A soldier is a Yahoo hired to kill in cold blood as many of his own species, who have never offended him, as possibly he can."

You may have noticed also that on my site I don't talk much about politicians, except to quote them once in awhile. That's because in the pyramidal structure described by Orwell a politician is on the same level as a bureaucrat, ie in the Outer Party, a third level down from Big Brother and below the Inner Party, made up of corporate heads and other elites.

But once in awhile I'll mention a politician and your query about war inspires me to tell you my war joke which sums up the mentality of most politicians, in this case the highest ranking one of the world's so-called greatest super-power and leader of the so-called free world:

Here goes:

Q. "Why did Bush go to war against Iraq?"

A. "Because he couldn't spell Afghanistan".

I hope that helps set the record straight regarding this website's attitude toward war. And if Bush, Kerry, Blair, Putin, Mao or whoever is so hot-to-trot on war then they should all put on a uniform and head to the front-line. And so too should every other politician and corporate head thumping the war drum.

All the best,
~ Jackie Jura

Dear Jackie,

Thank you for providing me with a detailed answer to my question on war. It was fascinating and on the mark.

Cheers,
Ivan Goldman

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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