War, What Is It Good For?

Many of us remember this rhetorical question from Edwin Starr’s 1970 protest song, War.  He answers his own question in the third line with, “Absolutely nothing, uhh.”  This song protested America’s involvement in the Vietnam War.  The lines “good God y’all” and “absolutely nothing” were ad-libs by Starr and not part of the original lyrics.  These are some of the most remembered ad-libs of all time.

That war was perhaps the first to be so widely covered in the news.  There was a seemingly endless barrage of war-related words, photos, and film.  It was certainly the first war I had any interest in as it was the one going on while my wallet held a draft card.  I was born just days after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, and lived through Korea as a child, but Vietnam was my personal sword of Damocles.  Now I was interested in politics and history.  Now it all had meaning.

Since Korea, the US has been involved in conflicts (read war) in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba (Bay of Pigs), Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Grenada, Libya, Persian Gulf, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Indian Ocean (Operation Ocean Shield), Libya, Uganda, Iraq, Syria, and Libya.  You may have seen some listed more than once because, contrary to popular belief, nobody ever wins or ends these things.  “Mission accomplished” is never a true statement.  We often have to go back to “accomplish” our mission again and again.

My point here is that, within my lifetime, my own country has been “involved” in a conflict somewhere on earth for most of that time. 

Beyond US involvement in some conflict, the world has been engaged in warlike activity non-stop since Ogg first picked up a stone and threw it at a nearby cave dweller.  With the advent of mass communications, we have all seen the horrors of such wars.  Those images assault our senses.  I am reminded of the character Alex from A Clockwork Orange and his comfort with violence as a way of being.  We eventually become more blasé than outraged.

We are currently being numbed by the visuals of the atrocities of Ukraine being wrought by Vladimir Putin.  The mere fact that a single individual can initiate a conflict so evil that tens of thousands of innocent civilians will die, is difficult to contemplate.  In war, civilians always die, it just seems that in this case, it is part of a strategy.  The civilian casualty was to be a tool of war to force submission.  So far, it has had the opposite effect.  It has steeled the efforts of the Ukrainians and observers in areas of the world where some semblance of a free press still exists.

We have no defense against a primary nuclear threat nation save economic sanctions, and our ability to supply ammunition, weapons, training, intelligence, and logistical support to Ukraine.  Europe is in an especially tenuous position as Russia is the source of much of its energy needs.  Oil, gas, and coal play a significant role in the leverage Putin has over much of the EU.

The ultimate outcome of this most recent display of one man’s greed and thirst for power is undecided.  What has been decided is that cities have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have been slaughtered or made homeless to satisfy the wants and desires of a single individual.  Putin’s recent appointment of General Alexander Dvornikov, the so-called Butcher of Syria, to lead a new initiative on the Donbas region, speaks volumes as to his sadistic and callous nature.

General Alexander Dvornikov gets Hero of Russia Star from Putin

All war is evil and senseless.  The earth needs to stand still for a moment and reflect.  Perhaps Gort could be of assistance.  You remember Gort, the seven-foot-seven-inch robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still.  From that movie we have, "The universe grows smaller every day, and the threat of aggression by any group, anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all, or no one is secure.  Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom except the freedom to act irresponsibly." – Klaatu.

Vlad (imir) the Putin and his predecessor, Vlad the Impaler share a common personality trait.  Both have used extremely cruel measures to inspire fear in those who got in their way.  There are conspiracy theorists who believe that they are one and the same person.  They claim Putin is immortal and thousands of years old.  There is even a series of 3 photos showing a soldier in 1920 and one in 1941 that bears a resemblance to the Vlad-Putin of today.  Who said this world couldn’t get any stranger?

Vladimir Putin will have to step up his game however if he wants to go down in history as one of the “best” at his profession of instigating human misery.  Joseph Stalin engineered a famine in eastern Ukraine in 1932-33 where 3.9 million died. 

Stalin Rule by Starvation

Stalin imposed collectivism to counter Ukrainian nationalism.  He replaced Ukraine’s small farms with state-run collectives to punish the independence-minded Ukrainians who threatened his authority.  The resultant famine was known as the Holodomor, which was a combination of Ukrainian words for starvation and the infliction of death.  Farmers died of starvation or were imprisoned for not meeting quotas.  With fewer farmers, the famine got worse.  Stalin then moved Russians to Ukraine as replacements.  The whole thing was a disaster of epic proportions.

Stalin’s efforts in Ukraine to eliminate their culture, stamp out their language, and force submission had the opposite effect.  Ukrainian resentment for their Russian overlords brought about a renewed sense of nationalism.  Perhaps that is some of what Vlad the Putin is seeing in the form of resistance from the Ukrainians who haven’t forgotten this previous oppression.

If history is to be the judge, Putin will certainly be labeled another in a long line of Russian despots.  Why he is idolized by Donald Trump and some in the GOP remains a puzzlement.  Where dictators prevail, corruption and abandonment of morality soon follow.  "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" - English historian Lord Acton (1834–1902).

I will leave you with a few more quotes that deal with the futility of war.  We all know what it is good for.

“To devastate is easier and more spectacular than to create.” ― Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange

“You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one”

John Lennon - Imagine