CEASEFIRE!

Ceasefire is a true story. It is about me and my familys journeys through wars and other conflcts over three generations, and the brutal consequences of such a journey, particularly for me.

During my PhD research in the 1980s, as an academic I travelled all over the world, and revealed the murderous realities of the covert Reagan-era, US foreign policy in numerous war zones, particulary in the Phillipines and Central America. The covert strategy became known as Low Intensity Conflict ( LIC).

But much later my political opponents in the media, branded me a 'terrorist' sympathiser and supporter of 'Islamic terrorism' in the southern Philippines. The result? My life was left in tatters - privately, professionally.and psychologially.

Over time, I tried to come to terms with my constant battle against the suicidal 'Black Dog' of depression. I decided to write a book about my reseach with the communist New People's Army and the Muslim guerrilas in the Philippines. It was way of combating the smear campaign that destrored my life.

Ultimately, I concluded like millions of other people, I am merely a part of a brutal 'firing order' phenomenon, a psychological condition of a global politcal culture that continually infects and shapes our following generations. I am neither alone nor my condition uninfluenced. I am just another link in a long chain of human events perpetrating both conflict among peoples and the resulting deadly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that affects such participants. With a greater understanding of my condition, I finally attemped to come to peace with the Black Dog, and called for a 'Ceasefire'!

But what ultimately happened?. It all played out in France. I survived but my brother and daughter didnt. I am still to find any peace. The Black Dog takes no prisoners!

Dr Ivan Molloy