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Jan. 16, 2005 The Vietnam War lasted eighteen years. War between England and France lasted one hundred years and the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece lasted twenty-seven years. The Sudanese Civil War continues today after its beginning in 1955. Northern Ireland has been fighting for thirty- three years, war in Iraq so far has lasted a little over one year. An interesting thing about history, it is an accounting of war and periods of peace. The length of each war and the periods of peace between them measure the chapters of our history books. Unfortunately long periods of peace are much more infrequent than periods of war. In 2nd Century A.D. Rome experience almost one hundred years of peace. During that period of time the “5 Good Emperors” actually treated their citizens humanely and justly, imagine that. No one can predict how long war in Iraq will last. Colin Powel stated in a news conference a couple of days ago that he sees less U.S. involvement by the end of this year. I hope he’s right. America and its allies have lost over a thousand soldiers. Iraq has lost many of its soldiers. According to Jelani Cobb at Africana, as of April of 2004 Iraq has lost 10,000 citizens and over 4,000 soldiers. A great price to pay for any side of the coin. Does war solve problems? I have wrestled with this idea for many years. I was in the U.S. Army during Vietnam and have always had the tendency to believe that we gained nothing in that quagmire. I believe, however, the Civil War in America (as bloody as it was) resulted in arguable freedom from slavery. World War II prevented the annihilation of an entire ethnic/religious people. The first Gulf War prevented Iraq’s takeover of Kuwait. From these examples, one can make the argument that war can in fact have positive results. Still, one can sit back in one’s easy chair and contemplate the Catholic/Protestant conflicts, Palestinian/Israeli quagmire, and the Sudanese Conflict, and attempt a logical explanation for them.
Is war necessary? In the words of an old
Sesame Street song, “that’s about the size where
you put your eyes, that’s about the size of it.”
Man’s opinion on the need for war lies in what
side of the battlefield he stands on. It is a
simple fact. Pacifists will say that no war is
necessary, but we would not be sitting in our
nice warm homes in America watching the NFL
playoffs if we hadn’t made a move in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. I say a
price is paid in every war, human life. It’s too
bad we can’t just arm wrestle and determine
victory.
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