Opinion
 

War is, and will remain, inevitable

by Ray Havins

Since the United States established its independence from England in 1776, it has fought a total of 12 major conflicts, exposing every generation since to at least one of these altercations. How could an event as horrific as war occur an average of every 20 years, with no sign of an end to this phenomenon in sight? Can we establish a new paradigm for society, one that does not sacrifice millions of lives to the sword? Probably not.

In order to understand the importance of avoiding war, one must examine its tremendous costs. The numerous wars of the United States are, in chronological order: the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam conflict, Desert Storm, Afghanistan and the Iraqi War. The greatest expense of these wars has been the men and women who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country, as approximately 800,000 American soldiers have been killed in action. Might I remind you, this is the price tag of American lives only, and does not include the losses of other countries. In economic terms, war has been a pricey endeavor. Costs are estimated to be $3 trillion for the 12 wars, in terms of present day value. 

During colonial times, the motive for war was mercantilism — competing with foreign nations for land, resources and basic national supremacy. It is easy to see that such a train of thought would most often result in wars with rival nations. 

The Cold War with the Soviet Union spurred several conflicts with the United States because of differences in the style of government economic system. The United States promoted democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union supported communism and dictatorship. Discounting the heinous nature of Josef Stalin's rule, was one really righteous and the other evil? It's doubtful. So long as the populaces were willing to accept the leadership in command, there was no reason for the bloodshed or the hatred that came out of the Cold War.

After the fall of communism, there was no major threat to America's supremacy. But sure enough, the same year of the fall of communism, the United States entered Kuwait to fight Iraq. Since the fall of communism, we have now entered into three different conflicts, of which only one was prompted by an attack on America.

The argument presented here is not whether past wars were merited. Rather, it is to justify the declaration that war is inevitable. The more society changes superficially, the more obvious it becomes that the core behavior of society never changes. Countries come into conflict with one another when their values, language, religion, structure, etc., are not in agreement. When Russia was under communist rule, we completely embargoed its society and stated that communism was evil. But now, China also is a communist country, yet we have befriended China. Why? It is because China's form of communism is not the extreme Marxist form, but instead incorporates some Western values? One could say America has changed since the Cold War, thus explaining the discrepancy. However, the Cold War ended a mere 15 years ago, and the United States still embargoes Cuba, a communist country within 150 miles of its borders.

The recent Iraqi war was justified by the Bush administration, which stated that Iraq possessed the potential for weapons of mass destruction and was under a volatile dictatorship. The only problem with this justification is that North Korea is a communist country with an established WMD program, so why haven't we attacked it?

War will continue for generations and many will succumb to its treacherous fate. Being void of ignorance and fear and avoiding rash decisions will lead to a much healthier global society. One million U.S. lives along with $3 trillion is a great reason to change our attitudes. As our 32nd president Franklin Delano Roosevelt said during World War II, "More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars. But the mere conquest of our enemies is not enough; we must go on to do all in our power to conquer the doubts and the fears, the ignorance and the greed, which made this horror possible." 

Havins, an editorial writer for The Daily Cougar,
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu.