The Stupidity of War

Memorial Day just passed and we are in the very beginnings of the 2016 Presidential campaign. Both of these events present many opportunities for some people to wrap themselves in the American flag and promote war as a solution to complicated world issues. It's sad really and worse, dangerous.

Glib, emotionally based statements about nuking people and countries out of existence cross just about every moral and political line there is to cross. Sadly, there will always be those who are attracted to these kinds of statements. They imply a quick solution to some of the problems the world faces. Most of the hawks and war sellers have never fought in a war or paid any kind of price relative to the violence of war. Yet they spout about what they would do as Commander In Chief as if they have all of the expierience in the world. Boots on the ground - a few thousand here, a few thousand there - more bombs, more drones. We report and seem to celebrate the death of 10,000 ISIS fighters without questioning how many people end up being radicalized or recruited by these deaths. All of this is an acceptance of old concepts of war that over the centuries have been proven to be incorrect - and in the end we just keep repeating the mantra.

But war is stupid, really stupid and many times, as we've seen, a mistake. What do we do about those mistakes after the fact, after thousands are killed. They are no more. Their future and our future is affected by the loss. People we knew, didn't know or who now we have no chance of knowing. That is the real tragedy and stupidity of war.

As people talk about 'boots on the ground', perhaps as few as 3000 (a few unless you're one of them), we really need to remember and contemplate the mistakes and lessons that should have been learned from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Wars are terribly stupid and tragic ways to find peace and many of us know it.