Why War Works

            The history of war, a topic I have not studied in detail, goes back about as far as human history.  War works for several reasons, but before I start that discussion, I want to add a disclaimer.  I am not advocating war.  I am only writing about why war works, both historically and currently.  In fact, I am an anti-war person, believing the U. S. should be more like China and defend itself while not interfering in the affairs of other countries.  This is personal, in that the U. S. Army, and so the U. S. government wanted me to fight in Vietnam against the Chinese supported Vietnamese.  I say, “Chinese supported” based only on the propaganda provided to me by the American government.  Some Americans reading this may already be angry at me.  So be it.  I don’t trust any government completely, and certainly not the U. S. government completely.

            In 1970, I had a choice.  I could go to college or I could risk being sent to fight in Vietnam.  I made two choices.  I chose to be listed as a “non-combatant” and I chose to go to college.  If I had to make the same choice today, I would have probably done the same.  But in the early 1970s, I probably would have become a Canadian citizen rather than fight in an unpopular “police action” in Vietnam.  The United States never declared war on Vietnam and did not try to “win” a war in Vietnam, but that’s another story.  I was listed as “F4” on my draft card.  That means, if the U. S. Army had successfully drafted me, I would have gone onto the battlefield without a gun as a medic.  But that topic is only provides as background information.

            War works because death is final and provides a final solution to a problem.  Primitive peoples fought because others fought them and tried to take their stuff, whether that stuff be land, women, gold, or other “possessions.”  Yes, women were often treated like possessions.  Again, I’m writing, not advocating. 

            Wars are fought because someone wants control.  The most effective way to completely control someone is to kill them.  The two so-called “world wars” were fought because one country wanted to control another.  In general, small groups of people control even the largest of wars.  Hitler wanted to control, essentially, the world, and used the tarnished pride of the German people to do so.  Again, I speak of propaganda.  I never asked Hitler what his motives were because he apparently died before I was born.  I have to speak from what I have been taught.

            For example, as an American high school and college student I was never taught that World War II started in China.  I was taught that it started when Hitler and Germany invaded Poland.  But, now that I’ve studied a little of Chinese history, I would contend that World War II really started then Japan attacked China in the late 1930s.  Why did Japan attack China?  To me, it appears the western countries gave them permission to do so.  In fact, I recently learned that the Treaty of Versailles gave part of China to Japan.  That is, the treaty that ended World War I started World War II, in both the east and west!

            World War II ended because killing people keeps them from fighting.  The so-called “War” in Iraq, again, technically an undeclared police action, not a declared war, resulted in the death of Sadaam Hussian but certainly, in this case, did not end what I call, “The first of the great resource wars.”

            What weapons will be used in World War III?  Einstein famously said, “I don’t know.  But I can tell you what weapons will be used in World War IV.  Rocks.”  That is, the only reason we have not had World War III is because several nations have atomic weapons.  If the U. S. tried to bomb Russia with atomic weapons, both countries would, in a matter of moments, cease to exist.  War has not worked because war would no longer eliminate the enemy.

            In fact, I contend there is a reason the U. S. has not invaded North Korea again.  The North Koreans have nuclear weapons.  We allegedly invaded Iraq because Sadaam had “weapons of mass destruction” a former code word for atomic weapons.  But the idiot George W. Bush changed the dictionary.  A “weapon of mass destruction” is now defined as almost anything that can kill a few people.  If a bomb in Boston that kills a few people is a “weapon of mass destruction,” then way is not a single gun that kills 20 first grade children not a “weapon of mass destruction?”  If the Afghans or Iraqis had had nuclear weapons capable of wiping out the USA or Europe, the U. S. never would have invaded either, and that’s the reason we don’t invade North Korea now.  If we could effectively neutralize North Korea’s atomic weapons, well?  Who knows?

            War is no longer an effective global tool.  My warning to the world?  If any county can effectively neutralize the nuclear or other true weapons of mass destruction of every other country, ultimately, we will have World War III.  Why?  Greed.  The main reason most wars are fought is greed, not freedom or protection.  People want to control other people.  War works only when you can gain control.  If you can’t gain control, war becomes an ineffective tool.