During the past 3,421 years of recorded history, there have only been 268 years without a war, according to W. J. Durant. We are a warring people, all of us, all over the world.
To fight is a part of our human nature. Visit a preschool and see how long it takes before one toddler hits another over possession of a toy. When we grow up, we stage wars over the possession of oil or some other resource another nation possesses.
War is a part of our religion. The Old Testament is filled with battles, wars and one tribe killing another. The last book of the Bible describes the final war, the Battle of Armageddon where the blood of men will run as high as the bridle of a horse for 200 miles.
Those who try to interpret this strange writing point to Russia and China attacking Israel with the United States in the battle as well. For all our sakes, let’s hope the book has been misinterpreted or was the result of St. John eating pickled herring before going to bed one evening and having a terrible nightmare.
It does little good to carry signs and protest for peace. I’ve been a part of a number of peace demonstrations dating back to the Vietnam War. I was protesting the Iraq War as far back as 2003 and it lasted another nine years.
I don’t believe anyone in Washington cares whether you like a war or not. A change in government usually is the result of a bloody revolution, not folks carrying signs and singing “Give Peace a Chance.”
I don’t believe there will ever be peace on earth. It’s just not in our nature. We find it hard enough to get along with our neighbors and coworkers.
People fight outside bars every night. Alcohol seems to bring out the animal instincts we politely try to cover in our “civilized” world.
I am fascinated by the term “enemy.” Recruits in all the armed services are taught to fight the “enemy” that is out there somewhere planning to take away everything we possess. We just change the name of the “enemy” to fit the occasion. It’s a sort of the fill in the blank.
Our current “enemy” is _______ (insert name here).
The citizens of Japan and Germany were once the “enemy” but now we buy their cars, electronics and watches and spend a fortune to travel to those countries on vacation.
The North Vietnamese were our enemy but now they are making the shirts and shoes we wear and even pickles that we eat. Bruce Willis is currently being seen on Russian television in a commercial for a bank. Sylvester Stallone is selling vodka on Russian TV.
We are turning Iran into the new “enemy,” and I have no doubt after the holidays or 2012 presidential election, we will be in a war with that nation.
The rules for war seem to follow a sequence. First, nations make threatening statements to each other through the media. Next, one nation may impose sanctions against another such as affecting trade or cutting off access routes needed for trade.
The United Nations may be brought in the picture, which generally makes little difference.
When two nations can’t come to an agreement, its time to bring in aircraft and missiles and begin killing each other’s military and civilian populations.
The war ends when one side gives up or both have decided they have killed enough military personnel and civilians.
You can see the run up to the war with Iran now on the nightly news.
Baby boomers may remember the 1960’s television show “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In,” where Dan Rowan would dress up like Gen. Douglass MacArthur and portray General Bull Right who declared, “War is good business.” Ask Halliburton. From just 2003 to 2006 it made $17.2 billion in profits from Pentagon contracts.
Here are a few companies that profited from wars in 2010, according to CNBC: Lockheed Martin=$45 billion, Boeing=$63 billion, Northrop Grumman=$34.8 billion, Raytheon=$25 billion and General Dynamics=$32 billion.
England spent about $500 million to bomb Libya along with NATO but now Britain stands to reap up to $300 billion in contracts to rebuild the country.
According to the Watson Institute at Brown University, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the US $3.7 trillion. Do you wonder why the U.S. is in debt?
“In strict confidence, I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one,” wrote Theodore Roosevelt to a friend in 1897.
I have a great deal of sympathy for veterans. So many have been damaged for life by their military experience. The greatest horror has been our leaders lack of concern.
Henry Kissinger made the following statement in 1973: “Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.” He made that statement in front of Gen. Alexander Haig, White House Chief of Staff.
I’ve seen bumper stickers that read “Imagine World Peace.” You can also imagine other unlikely events such as winning the lottery or getting a contract with the NFL.
I used to sign a song in church, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” It’s never going to happen.
