English 108: Advanced Composition
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Looking at the Goya plates has started me thinking - is war necessary? I'm not a fan of war, but there are instances where it is the only solution to conflict. A lot of people say that war is not needed no matter what, but I would tend to disagree. A lot of the military conflicts that have taken place in the world could have been avoided and were not necessary. However, I feel pretty strongly that there are times when it is required - like WWII. In some cases it is essentially good vs. evil. Taking WWII as an example, look at Hitler. Prior to the outbreak of the war, appeasement and pacifism were the prevelant courses. Look what happened though - Hitler gained strength, was able to seize more territory and ultimately make him and Germany more difficult to deal with. If the allies had allowed more of this to occur he would have taken over the world without having to engage in major combat. In this case, war was inevitable and the only method of dealing with the threat of Hitler. In some cases in the world, past and present, there are people who have power with a military to back them up that are not like us. They do not negotiate. They (people like Saddam Hussein) do what they want, and lead their lives corruptly and with greed as the driving force. The only way to quell such insane recklessness is to eliminate that threat. Meaning war. If the world leaders of democratic countries were to stand idly by allowing dictators and pschopathic leaders to do as they will, then our world would be ruled with chaos, and there wouldn't be democracy for most of the globe.
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My opinion - this will likely offend you.
I am about to say something that may be offensive to many of you. I seem to be either the only or one of the two hawks in an aviary full of doves.
War has been going on forever, since man first walked the earth. The Bible even acknowledges that there is a time for war, and a time for peace. There will always be an instance where one group wants power over another or something another group has. It's human nature. Example, I see someone driving a hot car and I go "ooh, I want that." It isn't a political aim or anything to kill for, but it is a possession I want. We are not supposed to covet another's possessions, but it is a natural impulse. We all want control.
I am glad you acknowledge sometimes War is necessary, as with Hitler when appeasement doesn't work. WWII was also the last time we did war right.
Since the UN came about, We've all been too soft in matters of war. Do you want to know why veterans say Vietnam failed? Lack of support from home and too many restrictions. I am a huge fan of total war.
We are too concerned about losing civilian lives, buildings, infrastructure, etc. We have been fighting essentially with one hand behind our backs since the UN decided total war was inhumane (which it is, but necessary in my opinion) and set up one million restrictions that if you violate you could be imprisoned for. We need to realize war is about loss and gaining control of a situation. If that means some civilians end up killed, then that is an unfortunate consequence. Hitler didn't care who he ended up killing, and if it weren't for the Russian front opening up early, he would have taken the continent. He nearly succeeded. How did we end WWII? We bombed the heck out of two cities. Ironically, we have a good relationship with Japan. It's called gunboat diplomacy. We have scary weapons.
As for the current war, the stipulation was that Iraq had to let us into all it;s labs to inspect. It did not say we had to find WMD's. They had been avoiding UN sanction for years, and this was the final straw, so we went in. Was it completely founded to go in? No, but they were warned action would be taken. We went about getting a proper declaration of war from Congress too. They were warned. We're not some horrible monster here, people. You can disagree with the war and support the troops, but put more emphasis on the troops please. I can't imagine how discouraging it must be to come home after risking your life for people you don't even know just to get told you're a murderer and a terrible person.