So today I saw a sign. Not one from heaven, just one of your everyday physical apparatuses that tries to convey a message. This one's message, all too common in our modern time, is that "War is not the answer."
Lies.
Name a major world problem that war was not the answer for. Now, don't read this to mean that every war solved a problem, or that every problem has been or is in the process of being solved by war. Just note that of the major world problems that have been solved, the majority, if not all, were solved by war or the imminent threat thereof.
Nazis? War. Worldwide spread of Communism? Threat of war. Any attempts of any power attempting to conquer others? War. A need for the greatest television show of all time? War. (Thank you creators of M*A*S*H for recognizing this problem, even though you and your stars were anti-war.)
What has peace solved? Negotiations with Saddam Hussein..... nothing. Negotiations with Yassir Arafat.... nothing. Appeasing Hitler.... nothing. Nam? Nope. Korea? Nope. Terrorism? Nope. (Look at western Europe for that massively pathetic failure of an attempt.) Again, not to say that the last three have been solved by war, though I believe they could have been, or can be, solved through a properly managed war.... bring back MacArthur, please...
How many evil dictators have been taken down or otherwise had a change of heart by negotiations for peace? None. These guys (Hitler, Hussein, Arafat, Milosevic... and with luck Ahmadinejab and Kim-Jong Il) have to be killed in order for their murderous rule to be stopped. Peace is the goal, not the answer. It would be great if war could be avoided, and if negotiations and sanctions and the UN ever did a single good thing... but it can't and they don't. To believe otherwise is stupid and naive.
So give war a chance.
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2 comments:
Ryan,
I have to strongly disagree with you on this one.
War is usefull for a few tasks: namely, to kill people, to turn a profit, and to create what you might consider "etremists."
You ask the reader to "Name a major world problem that war was not the answer for." Later, you presume that all "world problems" originate from one evil man or one man's evil army.
World problems for which war is not the answer:
1) Poverty (though US megacorps do turn a hefty profit every time we turn our soldiers loose for another conquest to spread "democracy:)
2) Isolationism
3) Extremism
4) Worldwide depletion of natural resources (water, fuel, space)
5) Hatred
6) Inequality (race, gender, sexual orientation)
7) War, of course
I know that you will certainly disagree with #7, but I ask you to consider the following scenario.
You live in the US. The EU decides that your newly elected Prez is an evil dictator. Other nations are convinced of this fact as well and they set out to remove your dear leader. Dear leader orders the military to defend the homeland.
Game time!
Troops invade and "accidentally" destroy the "terrorist training camp" that is your home during a routine carpet-bombing raid. Your mother is dead. Father: dead. Brother, sister, grandpas, grandmas, doggies, kitties, fish and soforth: dead...
Does it end here? Do you just decide to turn the other cheek like the good Christian we all know you are? Or do you become an "extremist?" Will you do everything within your power to remove the murderers from your beloved homeland?
You grew up (and continue to be) a sheltered American boy. It is apparent that you have no grasp of "major world problems."
If war is the answer then why are you in Law School of all places, instead of fighting the good fight in the desert?
Do you want to make money or make the world a better place?
Better grab an M-16 because with people like you in this world peace will not come soon enough.
While I appreciate your comment and position, Karen's-boyfriend (she told me you posted a comment, and I have forgotten your name), please realize that this blog is intended to be more of a satire than a serious discussion of views. For example, I do not think that if I were to put forth a serious viewpoint of war, I would refer to M*A*S*H (which I would like to reiterate is the greatest TV show of all time) as one of the good things to come from it all. That being said, I hope you don't think I'm a terrible, sheep-like warmonger, and I look forward to meeting you at some point when you come to this side of the country to visit Karen.
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