The world is currently embroiled in a East-West conflict with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries currently accusing Russia of using or planning to use chemical weapons in their incursion into Ukraine. However, it seems to be lost on NATO countries that that they have historically used various internationally illegal chemical weapons in numerous conflicts across the entire world causing immense amounts of environmental harm. Russia and other countries in the East are also guilty of these crimes, but the Western media almost always portrays NATO countries as the “good” guys with almost no questioning of their military practices. The feature image of this post shown above depicts damage to an oil refinery in Serbia that was bombed by NATO forces during the Balkan wars of 1999.

Explicit Examples of Environmental Harm

In the Vietnam War, for example, the United States armed forces utilized Agent Orange and napalm over large swaths of Vietnamese jungles and agricultural land. It also dropped these harmful chemical agents directly over villages, villagers and even their own troops. Many Vietnam veterans have suffered debilitating health effects from exposures to Agent Orange residues and napalm fumes, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people who also died or suffered severe negative health effects. There is also the issue of geoengineering (aka weather warfare) conducted in Vietnam by the US air force through Project Popeye. This is discussed briefly here in this article on weather warfare, here’s a quote:

“During the Vietnam war, cloud-seeding techniques were used, starting in 1967 under Project Popeye, the objective of which was to prolong the monsoon season and block enemy supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.“

NATO countries also used depleted uranium rounds early on in the Iraq War (see this article for more of a discussion on the evidence) exposing both Iraqi civilians and NATO’s own troops to dangerous amounts of radioactive compounds. One of the industrial facilities that formerly manufactured depleted uranium materials for the US military is ironically located in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Boston: Concord, Massachusetts. The former Starmet facility is now a Superfund site with extensive environmental contamination of soil and groundwater. The environmental effects of war are hidden in plain sight, not only in the war-torn countries but also right here back at home in one of the wealthiest areas of the USA.

I will also briefly mention here that many Gulf War veterans have suffered chemical sensitivity symptoms collectively referred to as ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ or ‘Desert Storm Diseases.’ Initially the veterans’ symptoms were dismissed as psychological, but over the years researchers have uncovered multiple possible environmental causes including excessive diesel fumes, ground-level smoke from the horrific oil fires, exposure to sarin gas, and even the ingestion of the “nerve gas pill” pyridostigmine bromide. Though pyridostigmine bromide protects the body from the worst effects of sarin gas, it causes toxic side effects by affecting the body’s levels of the enzyme cholinesterase. See this article for a detailed discussion on Gulf War Syndrome.

There are also reports online that claim several countries have used white phosphorous as an incendiary compound in bombs, though it is difficult to find reputable evidence that this highly toxic substance has actually been utilized in conflicts. Honestly though, it wouldn’t be surprising given the track record of the world’s militaries over the past century.

War: A Pointless Use of Precious Resources

All in all, even ignoring the horrific environmental health effects of war and colossal loss of life, in a world of rapidly diminishing stores of precious natural resources, it seems the height of folly to engage in military conflicts that consume vast amounts of petroleum, precious minerals, and metals. These are highly valuable resources that could obviously be used instead to construct solar panels, remediation systems or ecological shelters. In addition, these military conflicts, by their very nature, destroy the most valuable natural resource of all: fertile agricultural land. Right now the war in Eastern Europe is causing massive disruptions to the global wheat and fertilizer markets and prices for basic foodstuffs are already skyrocketing in many countries.

The petroleum, precious minerals, metals and fertile agricultural land represent “real” wealth. These are not just numbers in a computer representing your bank account balance (i.e. a claim on real wealth), they are the actual physical things that benefit your life and community on a day to day basis. War destroys real wealth while increasing the fake wealth (the bank account balances) of the military industrial complex.

Whether you live in the East or the West or in the middle, tell your representatives to stop their warmongering propaganda and put our remaining real wealth towards creating a better future for our children and grandchildren.

The words of John Trudell in this song really ring true at this moment in time:

Last rush in Babylon

Voices catching up, voices catching up

Watch out child, watch out child

Babylon falling down falling down

Society a broken promise

Economies war citizen whores

Political pimps

Leaving us flat on our backs

Trading today

Waiting for the promised land

…

Arms Race

Jacks boots pounding earth

Military precision

Dissecting elements of life

Taking apart instead of healing

Generals and Gods

Fascists and oil wells

Man images and machines

Petrochemical societies

Trying to hide the sun

…

Calling madness profit

Calling earth a plan et

Plaguing her with civilization