Conflagration: Documentary of a World in Turmoil

By Sophia Z Kovachevich

This book looks at the topical issues. At the start of the twenty first century.
Politically there is unrest and war wherever we look. Nazism is on the move again in a more virulent form.
Economically we are on the razors edge as we inch towards a major trade war.
Socially we are at the worst point in all the ages. Death stalks us at all times in all innocuous places in all safe havens. Nowhere is safe.
Environmentally we are seeing the beginning of another major catastrophe. The climate is changing and who knows what could happen?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Aug 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796005615

Sophia Z Kovachevich

Sophia Z Kovachevich has been a lecturer and a teacher for over 40 years. She has numerous degrees in various subjects ranging from literature to political science , history, aromatherapy, diverse religions and many more. She is a keen knowledge seeker and always aims to broaden her horizon and her knowledge. She is widely travelled and speaks a number of languages in varying degrees of fluency.

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Copyright © 2019 by Sophia Z. Kovachevich.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/26/2019

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Contents

Anthem for Doomed Youth

Preface

Political Issues

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Iraq

The Kosovo Problem – The Aftermath

Latin & Central America

Libya

Palestine and the Gaza

Syria

The Venezuelan Crisis

Yemen

US Military bases around the world

The Plight of Immigrant children at the Border

Trump – an Introduction

Trump and Globalisation

Trump and the EU

Trump & Xenophobia

Trump and McCarthyism

Trump and Racism

Economic Issues

Deals – Some withdrawals and renegotiations

Trump and EU

Withdrawals and renegotiations – a summary

Tariffs and Sanctions

US Tariffs in 2018

Tariffs and Sanctions: causes and effects

The Iran Deal

Social Issues

Shootings Jan to April 2019

Mass Shootings

Shootings at Educational Institutions

Shooting & Massacre AU

Shooting & Massacre Australia

Murders in New Zealand

Environmental Issues

Binsey Poplars

Environmental issues in the 21St century

Climate change

Effects of Climate Change

The Paris Climate Agreement

Conclusion

Appendix A

Appendix B

Bibliography

Ye shall know the truth and the truth will set you free

John 8:30

For my family with all by love, thanks and gratitude

Anthem for Doomed Youth

By Wilfred Owen

What passing bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

The world is in serious turmoil and disarray. Peace, at the moment, is a pipedream. The causes we espouse are not worth losing our children, men and women for. If only we could accept that.

Preface

Every corner of the world is in disarray, whether it is political, economic, environmental or social. It is violent. This phenomenon is present in all our continents. It is widespread. However we look at the problems, they are very much in evidence and troubling. And a lot of the evidence is often concealed and glossed over. Still what is apparent is more than enough to worry us, to frighten us. The reason, in my opinion why we have come to this stage, is the deliberate sabotage and unwanted interference by the so-called democratic countries in the affairs of others. During the nineteenth century and before it was the Western monarchies that raped and destroyed mainly Asia and Africa and to some extent Europe. But that is old history. Now it is the Western democracies that bomb, pillage and destroy Asia and Africa and to some extent Europe! We shall look a little closer to our times, in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. In the twentieth century we had the US becoming more powerful and less democratic – power and democracy do not really go hand–in-hand, as is determined by the human condition and as history clearly shows. Power always corrupts us – to a greater or lesser extent.

Today (26.7.2019) once again we see the raw face of hate which has reappeared on the college campus scene. The memorial of Emmett Till was not only desecrated with bullets but three white college boys posed with guns in front of it.

• Emmett Till was a 14-year old African boy who left the safety of his parents Chicago home to visit his grandmother in Mississippi. He was warned about racism but had no idea what it really meant. It was said that he ‘offended’* a white woman and so late that night he was dragged out of his bed, brutally tortured and then shot. His body was thrown in the river. His attackers were acquitted by an all-White jury. He got no justice. Now again with hate being openly espoused, what are we to expect from the free world? More hate? More racism? Are intimidation and violence back again? Does the world have to relive that terrible chapter again? It bodes ill for the future because things now aren’t quite what they were in 1955. Now we do have voices that protest such behaviour.

In this book I hope to share with you my trepidation, worry and fear for the future of our world. Wherever I look, I see a dismal picture of a world in disarray – of a world in turmoil. We have betrayed our inheritance. No matter which religion or race we belong to, we are all guilty. Everywhere you look, there is murder and mayhem; there is toil and trouble; there is betrayal and death. We murder, we bear false witness, we corrupt our Holy Books – the Bible, Quran and Torah as well as Buddha’s guidelines. All these Books and teachings advocate tolerance, respect for life and for other people, yet if we look at the world around us it is the opposite we see. Buddha insisted on not harming other living creatures and for example, in Buddhist Myanmar the opposite is happening - murder, rape, violence, displacement of whole communities is the order of the day, not tolerance and amity. We are the generations that are guilty of meaningless crimes. No place in the world is safe anymore and the most innocuous of places – the hearth, the home, school, church, mosque, synagogue, temple, restaurant, playground, classroom, hotel, concert hall are all death traps. At any time death may walk our way and stalk us. And we seem unable to learn the lessons of the ages – hate begets hate; murder begets revenge/murder; and most importantly – the one we should follow – love begets love or forgiveness.

Perhaps only a conflagration can purify our corrupt world.

NB

*Emmett Till supposedly whistled at a white woman.

Political Issues

The Hollow men

By T.S. Eliot

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams

In death’s dream kingdom

These do not appear:

There the eyes are

Sunlight on a broken column…

This is dead land. This is cactus land

Here the stone images

Are raised, here they receive

The supplication of a dead man’s hand

Under the twinkle of a fading star.

See yonder poor, o’er laboured wight

So abject, mean and vile

Who begs a brother of the earth

To give him leave to toil

And see his lordly fellow worm

The poor petition spurn

Unmindful that a weeping wife

And helpless offspring mourn

      Man was made to Mourn by Robert Burns

Nazism in some form, going by other names has always existed. In recent years it has become more focussed, arrogant and brain-washed. For example Jews were always discriminated against in most European countries like Germany, England France etc. History tells us that. But with the twentieth century Nazis it went beyond simple hate. Hitler desired to eradicate the Jews and to that end his party forced its dogma on the nation and brain-washed them. Hate became a central dogma for the Nazi party. Hate is a very negative emotion that corrodes the soul. It has no positive value but leaders who are dictators or would be dictators promote hate. They brainwash their followers to hate some chosen part of society that they feel threatened by. World War II showed us the power of hate. It should have served as a lesson to us but once again hate has snaked into our lives.

Nazism is not dead. Far from it! It is very much alive and gaining strength. After World War II, most people believed that Nazism was over and done with. This was not the case at all. It was dormant, gathering strength and disciples not just in Germany but in many others – waiting for the correct moment to rear its head again. The difference now was that Nazism was not confined to just one country but had crept into many nations and it was not just nationalism and anti-Semitism that drove it but many other ideologies with different names. The first modern Nazi name that comes to mind is the Neo-Nazi. They hold the same basic views as the Nazis did but are also extreme nationalists, homophobic, racist, anti-Semitic and in many cases anti-Islam. Some of the most well-known groups are the Skinheads and the White Nationalists in different countries. Some European and Latin American countries have laws forbidding the use of Nazi symbols and airing of pro-Nazi views. But there too, they are present. In the US there are several neo-Nazi groups like the Nationalist Socialist Movement, the Neo Nazis, The White Supremacists, The Ku Klux Klan etc. Nazi gestures are acceptable as we saw in a recent Trump meeting where the crowd shouted – Heil Trump with the Nazi gesture of the outstretched arm in July 2019. It should have given us all pause for thought. And this not the first time he got the Nazi salute.

First of all let us get an idea about the ideology of the Neo-Nazis. They are a militant socio—political movement seeking to revive and implement Hitler’s ideology. The modern day Neo-Nazis espouse beliefs that they are superior, hatred towards Jews, Muslims and all who are different from them in any way, like the Blacks, Hispanics and coloured people, the lesbians and homosexuals and all others. In short anyone who is not White Anglo-Saxon.

In the United States there are about 21 Neo-Nazi parties who are dominant and strong groups.

The majority of movements are to be found in the US and Germany followed by the United Kingdom. There are a few scattered over many other nations like Russia, Norway, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Finland and even in Asia and Africa.

In Asia the movements are centred in Taiwan, Japan, Iran, Mongolia, Syria. These are not really as powerful as those in Europe.

In Oceania they can be found in the following countries: Australia, (4 movements) and New Zealand (1 movement).

The signs were there for those who looked for them. The stage was being readied. By the year 2000 they made their reappearance.

Neo-Nazis Today

In the US though there are many parties the membership is not as frighteningly large as that in Germany taken by the size of the land they inhabit. The largest movement is the National Socialist movement with over 400 members. Because USA is a democracy and free speech is allowed, there are peaceful protests. But there are also a lot of situations when Neo-Nazis have attacked or harassed Jews, homosexuals and minorities as well as wrecking their property.

Neo-Nazi’s are more visible in Europe especially Germany where Nazi membership is over five and a half thousand and still increasing. These organisations are officially banned as is Holocaust denial but it is really only on paper. One of the main tenants of Neo-Nazism is Holocaust denial. A very large number of people believe it was a hoax. This group is almost as large as the haters. Recently Muslim haters have also become much more open, vocal and visible.

This brings me to my point: Hate. It is easy to hate anyone or anything that you do not understand or covet or are told to hate because they are different to you. Hate is wrong. Hate is a weakness. Hate begets hate. Hate is a loser.

Trump has radically changed the values we were taught to live by. He has done very poorly by the free America that he became President of. He is very intolerant of those who are different from him. He advocates and kindles the flames of hate, and racism and then denies any culpability!

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Man’s inhumanity to man: Makes countless thousands mourn!

Robert Burns

Afghanistan is the forgotten war. Even though the killing there is going on apace, it no longer makes the front pages. These 18 long years now, the war still does not seem to be coming to an end. The might of the US is ranged against a poor, small little country. Not many even remember why it began.

This is a landlocked country lying in South and Central Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the south and east; by Iran to the west and Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan to the North and China to the northeast. The main languages are Pashto and Dari. The religion is Muslim. The capital city and the largest is Kabul which has been heavily bombed time and time again.

Afghanistan is located very strategically and for that reason has housed many different peoples like the Hephathalites, Greco-Bactarians, the Kushans, the Samanids, the Saffrids and the Ghaznavids among others. It is often called the graveyard of empires because it has always been very difficult to conquer and keep. It has been invaded by many different peoples like the Greeks under Alexander the Great, The Mauryas from India, the Mongols, the Mughal Arabs, the British the Soviets and in recent times it has been the USA and the NATO coalition. The bombing and fighting are still continuing now in 2019 mainly by the USA.

After King Zahir Shah was overthrown by his brother-in-law Mohammad Daoud Shah, the country became a republic in 1978 but a second coup soon followed, and it became a Socialist state and then a Soviet Protectorate. This gave birth to the Mujahideens to fight against the Soviets and in 1996 it was taken over by the Islamic fundamentalist - the Talibans. They were forcibly removed by the USA and NATO. This was an independent country at peace with its neighbours. It had broken no NATO rules nor had it attacked any other country. It was resolving an internal problem but as is often the case with the USA, it needed to be bombed for reasons that were fictitious – at best. The reason given was that USA had to free the country from the Talibans. Does the rest of the world need to free the USA from the Neo-Nazis?

Afghanistan is a member off The UNO and the Non-Aligned Movement (like Serbia when it was too, bombed while trying to solve an US induced internal problem). It is also a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, The Group of 77 and the Economic Cooperation group.

Afghanistan is very strategically located (as mentioned earlier) on the Silk Route and that is one reason why it is and was often under attack. But it is often called unconquerable because of its terrain which is rugged and mountainous with deep valleys and gorges. The Khyber Pass road can only be navigated by drivers experienced on that route. On one side are very high and steep mountains, and on the other side sheer drops. The road is narrow and winding

In the 1930’s Afghanistan had good relations with the Axis powers but remained non-aligned and did not participate in World War II. Then, during the Cold War, both USSR and USA vied for influence. In 1978 Afghanistan descended into civil war led by the Mujahideen guerrillas, which was due to certain governmental polices including that of land reform. The USSR supported the ruling group (The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan the PDPA). And as usual USA supported the anti-USSR rebel Mujahideen. Soon after, the president, Taraki was assassinated and USSR invaded Afghanistan. The USA continued to supply trained fighters, weapons, cash and air missiles to the Mujahideen. Following the subsequent breakup of the USSR it left the ruling party without any support while the rebels were still backed by the USA. The stage was set for what came after.

By 1985 they were still fighting even though the Soviet war had taken its toll and