Body Count: The Cost of War
The United States is a global superpower. So are Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, India, and so on. Every country in the “G-20" is a superpower, and even a handful outside it, such as Egypt and Israel, can be considered superpowers as well. Some of these nations used to be empires, and some were home to the first civilizations, and most highly populated settlements of people on the planet. Many things contribute to the “superpower” status of a nation. Things like natural resources, manufacturing capability, military investment, current and historical regional partnerships, and transportation networks. It is a firm belief of mine, and of many others, that a cast of dictators, heroes, profiteers, and impostors have long been pulling the strings of our own nations and each others, and it is no more evident than in times of war.
You may believe that war is necessary, or inevitable, but I strongly disagree. A justified war is an oxymoron. War is irrational, brutal, and a terrible way to solve disputes. This is obvious to me, and I have never even known war first hand. I find it shocking that humanity cannot be unanimous in condemning war. Humanity has become numb to war when it is in the background, but the suffering truly manifests when it is in your home. The United States has known war, but we have rarely ever been the “home team”. Not a year goes by that our military isn’t deploying in, occupying, or invading another nation. If we are on the defensive, its certainly a strange way of showing it.
The U.S. isn’t the only country fighting wars we have no part in, but we are definitely the most prominent one. The phenomenon of “proxy war” has existed for as long as war itself, and its become increasingly hard to distinguish every party’s ties and motives in global conflict. But if history is of any indicator, it has to do with natural resources and the power that wealth has to corrupt. The terror of warring parties could not exist without corruption and greed.
Some Americans might say, “we don’t start wars, we end them”, as if our role is only a neutralizing force, but war can never be that simple. Trying to obtain peace through bloodshed never is.
What runs through a person’s mind before committing to war? Too much, and not enough. Their sense of pride and duty to their country, their way of life, and all they have to gain and lose. Once you are in the midst of war, the time for consideration vanishes, and your motives simmer down drastically: kill or be killed, ruin or be ruined. All warriors commit acts of conquest, even if they call it survival or defense, and it’s high time we confront this. The thoughts that go through an individual’s mind after the war is through with them are usually never the same as when they entered. They harden to the atrocities and become part of the war machine, or they crack, and see war for the racket it really is.
People like to say that our government has “run out of money”. That’s right, the self-proclaimed “greatest country in the world”, the United States of America, has run out of money to fund it’s government. Just ask…anyone. It sounds ridiculous, I know. The same people who tell us there is no money to spare, also tell us that the remedy is “less spending” and “more cuts”. Their plans to eviscerate government funding seem almost indiscriminate, if not for one major exception: the military.
As of lately, the U.S. spends over 600 billion dollars on its military a year, at least 3 times that of the next highest spending nation, China, and equivalent to the next 7 highest spending nations combined. Yet, by some wild circumstance, many are convinced that we need more. People want greater armaments to feel safer, but when you take a step back, you realize that no amount of armaments is enough, for scared citizens, or war profiteers.
Enough is never enough. Every war results in uprooted lives: refugees. Are there enough? Some people seem to think so. Are there enough veterans permanently scarred by war, used and abused by the nation they love? Are there enough soldiers killed in acts of senseless violence overseas? Have there been enough innocent civilians slain by occupying forces? Are there enough grieving mothers who sat on the sidelines, only to have their child taken away from them? Have enough resources been wasted on the act of killing? Has there been enough exchange of resentment, and vilification, and deceit?
Yes. Enough is Enough.
