If history is a guide and it so often can be, then war is with us always. I suspect very few people today can tell you much about any of the wars that the US has been involved in. They just know that we have had our share of war and then some. There seems to be almost zero interest in understanding what causes war and all the above mentioned wars and what can be done to maintain or recover peace, before, after and during a war.
As we watch a ferocious volley of missles and other high tech projectiles aimed at Israel this past weekend we know that we are filled with anxiety at what might happen and how it will affect us. It will pass in time seems to be our only solace. There is not much interest in understanding why the east or mid east as it is often called and the west are so ready to come to all out belligerency at what seems like a moments notice.
My family has some history with combat, warfare and militarism. My wife and I both served in what is now sometimes described as the Cold War era. There are no metals or ribbons given for this service that I know of, unlike Vietnam, Korea, or WWII. But the currents of history are offering the degree of tension in the world was nearly as warlike as in the actual times of war.
This makes me think of the years then since I was born and truly, they all have been saturated in war or warlike circumstances.
Do we always need an enemy? Is it as simple and sad as that? Or are there more complicated conditions that set themselves up in order to pump us up for war? It is not easy to go to war, but it is so much easier than going to peace it seems.
I try to listen to diplomats in times of war and try to find out about their personal lives in order to understand what makes them attempt to avoid war. In many cases, they have seen war and know that war is hell and even a poor piece is far preferable to a hot or even cold war.
Can a nation be driven by its emotional braintrust in the same way a young driver can instantly be thrown into road rage? Not only young people are involved in road rage incidents I should add, but seem less in control of their emotions perhaps. I myself have to prepare myself before I leave the house by considering the route to take, the time of day and the likely traffic, the construction zones, my mental state of mind, am I easily frustrated on certain days and several other factors. I don’t have a very good reason, except the stroke I had a while back has affected my brain somewhat. But I’m doing my best to compensate for that with a thought out process to facing conflict or other incitements.
We need to give much more thought to what takes place prior to all out war. We need to recognize all the traumas in our national past and use their cautious lessons to help us execute better policeies toward those we share the planet with.
With all the war we have been involved in, you would think we would have an advantage with all the lessons we have or should have learned. This may be the real point though, why don’t we learn and take these lessons to heart?
The Greeks were a reasoning people, more than any society before and perhaps after. There was a lot of thinking through the different possibilities and permutations. Again, the average citizen was involved in this to a moderate extent, far more at any case than today’s citizen.
Like General Patton, I would agree that war is hell. As a warrior he executed war vigoursly when called upon to do so. Norman Schwarzkopf did not earn his nickname Storming Norman without good reason as well. We need this warriors when we need them. But they all would prefer the prevention of war. We need more reasoned peacemakers though, for many reasons. And in this time of striking technological development, we may one day find ourselves in a war that cannot be recovered from so easily.
If I could influence one person to master the skills of Peacemaking than I will feel very good about that. I hope so.