Reservations on War

War is spoken of as something that can be avoided. It is either ‘morally impossible’ or that one can attain ‘supreme excellence’ by subduing the armies of your enemies without even having to fight them. The truth is however, that war cannot be prevented. It can only be postponed. Fact of the matter is that it is in our own nature to feel that one has been wronged and it is within our own nature to be told to believe that we have been wronged and thus be spurred into belligerent action. Hence, it is only a matter of time before war breaks out between two nations no matter how hard the previous generation has fought to maintain peace.

Many an example in history has told us that a War was fought in the interest of border security. In the ancient world, many a clan has ‘secured’ its borders by fighting a weaker clan thereby securing its old border, establishing a new border and then repeating the process except for a new border. This sort of border maintenance is classed as uniting the clans or establishing nationalism. Ancient Greece was made up of several clans that continuously fought one another over domestic disputes. Agamemnon, a ruthless tyrant was one of the first to establish the Greek nation by subduing most of clans. This is not the only example. The clans of China have fought viciously with one another, which eventually led to the establishment of a Chinese nation. Even today, the process continues. Although there may be other motives, one of the reasons for sending Australian troops to Iraq was in the interests of national security. Thousands of years have passed since the Nationalistic Wars of Ancient China took place. Yet ‘border security’ remains as a justifiable motive to wage war.

Another motive and one of the more popular causes that has spurred a nation to war is the quest for resources. During world war two, the war between the United States and Japan was the result of an oil embargo. Paralysed without oil, Japan saw the only way to secure its future was to attack the United States. The bombing of Pearl Harbour eventually resulted in the start of the War in the Pacific. It is interesting to note that the war in this theatre was ended with the ‘unbelievable’ use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, we have seen today that the resource motive still prevails. The American conquests in both Africa and Iraq are seen by many as a method of securing oil for the future of the United States. Resources are essential for the survival of any independent country. Therefore, when a nation is lacking it will do anything to ensure the survival of its people. This is only human nature. No amount of diplomacy can stop a war based on a resource conquest.

In addition, War is also fought in the interests of a political ideal. This motive is seen in almost any war. The political ideal behind ‘border security’ is in fact Nationalism. Today, the political ideal is ironically the reverse of nationalism – self determination. The various clans of Iraq are displeased with the Shiite majority in the newly elected democratic parliament and hence the insurgency continues. However, we all know the racial political motives of Adolf Hitler in his military conquest of Europe. His policies of racial cleansing spurred the whole World into War. The war in Vietnam was fought to stop the spread of communism. The tyranny of Mugabe in Africa is all to uphold a political ideal. These are just to name a few examples in the space of fifty years and it would be naive to suggest that such people will fail to return in the future. To remove them and to ensure the safety of the lives of millions of innocent people, governments will take the gamble in sacrificing a few of their own. Hence, we see yet again that war on this instance cannot be avoided.

Therefore, we can easily conclude that War is an activity that cannot be prevented. It has been thousands of years since the first war has been fought and yet still today in the timeline of human progress we are yet to reach the ‘morally impossible’ state. Peace can be prolonged insofar as the ‘pinpricks’ are prevented; however nobody can prevent the return of a ruthless tyrant or replenish the world’s resources. As a result, a war will be fought based upon such motives. Therefore, war will never be impossible.