We all know the term ‘War Games’ and how they have a claimed reason for their existence along with the underlying reasons.
The surface gloss claims they are merely to keep an army or armies ‘up to speed’ and in a higher state of readiness.
However, as with those so-called ‘War Games’ in South Korea and the recent combined NATO/Ukraine exercises they are also used to send a direct message to those considered enemies and to intimidate and mould public opinion in regard to all "evil enemies” of the "saintly" West.
But if these are ‘War Games’ with the emphasis on ‘Games’ what could be denoted as cheating? Beyond the subtext of the messages being sent by the military exercises themselves there is also all the attendant propaganda, muscle-flexing and attempts to intimidate and influence western populations in order to draw them into a nexus of fear, a fear that can be usefully manipulated if and when the time comes for even more strident action.
The effect of the entire panoply of western elite agendas, narratives and efforts to create an effect in the public mind of western populations is greater now than at any time since the end of World War II, greater even than that seen during the entire Cold War. Of course claim after claim was made by the western elites of communist iniquity, great emphasis was laid on the great lack of freedom and democracy suffered by the populations locked behind the Iron Curtain. That economics rather than human rights was the overriding concern of western elites was understandably lost on western populations over those years, as they were pummeled relentlessly with the same variations on the same themes, freedom and democracy, over and over and over again. But I would contend that economic gain and denial of it by the regimes of the time to western elites was at least, if not even more so, the primary motivating force both on the western side of the curtain and behind it.
The above being said, the old calls for ‘Freedom’ and ‘Democracy’ which worked so well against the Warsaw Pact have been found to flag a little in the years since the demise of the communist system and all it stood for in those nations. Their last hurrah was arguably heard for these two buzz words to justify the attack upon and invasion of Iraq, and later Libya and to some degree in the war against Syria. A new device began to be seen alongside the two stalwart motivating and manipulating terms that had served the West well. It was trialled with much success in Iraq after being used to a certain extent in Afghanistan. For shorthand, I call it weaponizing empathy.
Western populations have seen their general standard of living rise since the end of World War II through various economic innovations playing upon the already privileged economic position of western nations. A long history of exploiting weaker nations to the hilt through colonialism and the brutal reality of greater leverage available to strike great deals for them and lousy ones for all others left the West extremely rich by comparison with most of the rest of the world. Sensitivity rose alongside affluence in many. Not that it had ever been entirely absent, western populations had often suffered from pain and poverty while their elites enjoyed an entirely different experience of life. The pain and poverty of many produced its own sensitivity toward others and was expressed politically as socialism. The more poor a population was in the West the more compassion and empathy tended to be found within it. This was before the era of Thatcher and Reagan of course.
After the infamous duo above a new individualism arose where a selfish approach began to speedily erode the socialism (whether called as such or not) that had been the bedrock of poorer sections of western populations. Nevertheless, and largely despite the greed-driven decades which followed, a middle class arose that felt itself quite significantly well off. They demanded and got a sanitized life to a great degree, they left grimy inner cities behind them and created lives for themselves that generated a feeling of immunity from the many ailments of humanity. They began to feel secure and quite self-satisfied. And perhaps just a little guilty when they heard of the many dire travails of others. They eventually became quite highly sensitized to these, much as the rich Victorian benefactors to the poor must have felt centuries earlier.
Western politicians know which section of their populations have the most clout. In poll position of course are the super-rich and the owners and shareholders of highly successful corporations. Then come the wealthiest of the middle class who are most likely to be active politically. But it was those in the middle class who wielded political clout that would become the primary targets of the new device of weaponized empathy. The so-called ‘Bleeding Heart Liberals’.
In Afghanistan there were very real issues that could be brought to bear and used ultimately to justify the wreaking of death and destruction. The Taliban refused to allow females to be educated and kept them locked indoors, unable to participate in the everyday life that was the rule in the West.
This was taken a step further in Iraq after it was seen to be a very effective force tied in with the concepts of ‘Freedom’ and ‘Democracy’. A fiction was generated which helped get the support needed by the West to start wreaking havoc in Iraq. A young girl (the daughter of an Iraqi activist) presented a heartbreaking story to an elite gathering in Washington. She related how Iraqi soldiers had taken over 80 babies out of their incubators and dashed their tiny heads on the hard hospital floor. It was a carefully articulated tale and George HW Bush fell for it hook, line and sinker.
In Syria this device was taken a few steps further as the emotive power to manipulate sensitive western audiences through the power of all media including the new social media was realized. The White Helmets were the perfect set-up for pulling heartstrings on innumerable levels. Brave and selfless humanitarians risking life and limb under shining white helmets to rescue terrified little children from the evil bombardments of the Syrian tyrant. A kind of evil perfection was seen in the cold professionalism of those whose employment depended upon the framing of enemies of the West when it came to the White Helmets. In conjunction, U.S. and UK representatives at the United Nations chimed in to raise the emotional quotient to even higher levels with accusations that Assad and the Russians were waking each morning rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of killing school children and hospital patients. The weaponizing of empathy had gone into absolute overdrive.
In more recent times we have seen the treatment of the media and serried ranks of activists use demonizing of targets to the limit wherever possible. Russia and China became the next targets. Good money would be paid in large amounts for any story that could either pluck a heartstring, raise an indignant fist or envelope minds in fear and loathing. False flags played their part of course, they had in Iraq and they did also in Syria and Libya. The Humanitarian Death Industry has been going great guns throughout. All’s fair in love and war they say and weaponizing empathy is now very big business.
Despite no evidence and multiple reports to show there is no evidence, certain centres of activism with excellent connections to western elite entities in both political and media spheres are able to make immense, tear-making, heartstring-pulling tragedies out of thin air. To date, Russia has seemed to be the primary target. But the ultimate target for the West, the target the elites of the West are aiming for with all their empathy weapons is undoubtedly China. And the province of Xinjiang where the new Silk Road has a hub has been chosen as the weakest point to attack. And of course, these days, the attack is led by weaponizing the empathy of sensitized elite populations in the West. Tales of genocide, forced labour and sterilization have been hitting the airwaves and newsprint in an all-out assault of western emotional vulnerability. Despite multiple reports by respected institutions that nothing of the kind can be found in Xinjiang, the powers-that-be of the West don’t let that stop them for a second.
This is arguably the sickest “game” that can be played in war short of a Hiroshima or Nagasaki. And it is a war, despite much of it involving mere words. The callousness is quite breathtaking when wealthy western elites attempt to throw thousands of Uighur workers on the breadline where they may be tempted to join the terrorist groups in their midst. Yes, it’s as sick as that. These are not ‘War Games’ but are treated as such. Men and women with high salaries in designer suits sit in well-appointed rooms in Washington and Whitehall to skillfully arrange these fabricated realities for maximum effect.
It’s all part of the new ways the West has found to fight the dirtiest wars in its history and just as it appears to be on the verge of having its powers eclipsed it is playing as dirty as it gets. By the black arts of demonizing, of projecting its own crimes on others, of torturing, of false flag operations and incorporating, arguably the most powerful device of all, the callous and utterly cynical weaponizing of empathy.
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