Disarmageddon

We interrupt this broadcast for an important announcement.

You don’t have to read this. Just call your representatives in Washington and ask them to stop bombing. Let them know what you think about the prospect of World War 3. Ask all your friends if they would please do the same.

There’s an email portal at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ .
The White House comment lines are both closed, not even taking recorded messages.
The White House switchboard is 202-456-1414, but you’ll have to talk fast before the operator shunts you to a line that just hangs up without taking a message.
The White House fax line is 202-456-2461. You can easily type your fax message in at http://faxzero.com.
The Capitol switchboard is 202-224.3121. You can ask for your Senator or Representative by name. If you have a local number, it’s usually easier to get through to a human.

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I am fortunate to have the luxury to write about abstract scientific issues of great intellectual interest. Somewhere inside me there’s a voice that reminds me — just one nuclear bomb could spoil my whole day.

Dr Strangelove, from the 1964 movie

Yesterday, my country bombed Syria. The last time we tried to have our way in Syria was just 8 years ago, and Russia stepped in decisively. My country is already doing all it can to “poke the bear” in Ukraine. We are counting on the restraint of Russia not to use nuclear weapons. So far, we have been lucky. We are tempting Israel to use nuclear weapons by declaring our unconditional support. So far, we have been lucky.

Iran is a large and diverse nation with deep intellects and a rich history, going back two thousand years before Darius the Great and the Persian Empire. It was our CIA that destroyed their democracy in 1952 and brought in an Islamist cleric to replace the secular government. In return, we got cheap oil for a short time. In the present, Iran has a more formidable military than any of the other countries we have messed with in recent decades. If we provoke Iran into a war, it will certainly lead to catastrophic loss of life.

My country has been making war in multiple places around the world. Democrats and Republicans agree on a policy of bombing and regime change operations. The US has been provoking, arming, or actively bombing in many places around the world. Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Ukraine, Libya, Yemen. The US has 750 military bases in 80 countries around the world. 

They think that the US can get away with it because we have the biggest, baddest military in the world. So far, they’ve been lucky. But all wars begin with both sides thinking they can win with modest cost. Both sides think the other side will surely back down.

Please send a message to Washington if you do not want a global war. Please speak and write to your friends, who probably want the same thing that you want.

Not with a whimper, but a bang.