War has been used for hundreds of thousands of years as a way of attaining a certain goal through the use of force.
Main reasons for war are:
Money and gold, kind of obvious reason, really.
Nationalism, asserting that my country is better than yours
Religion, asserting that my god is better than yours
Territorial gain, to give themselves more land to use
Resources, one of the biggest reasons is this one. Everyone wants to own valuable resources such as gold and oil, and if you don't have it, you will fight to obtain it.
Imperialism, for glory and for land
Racism, asserting that my race is better than yours (Nazi Germany V Russia is a good example; Hitler waged war on the Russians, who were perceived to be 'inferior' (Because they are Slavs. The word slave derives from Slav, who were the slaves of the Ottomans during the Middle Ages) to the Germans)
Revenge, taking back a loss
Future wars will probably be fought over drinkable water and forestry.
I served in Vietnam in the 60s during my training prior to going off to war we as marines were told we must fight to keep our freedom. We were told the North Vietnamese were the bad guys however; I was only 19 yeas of age at the time and you might say I was fighting blindly. Those doing all the fighting in combat are killing their fellow human beings for reasons dictated to them by their leaders.
Surely if we would let diplomacy work for us there would be no need for us or any nation to engage in war. Nevertheless, our politicians seem to lack in negotiating solutions they have no problem sending our troops into harms way.
Democracy is worth fighting for but we must not limit our way of life to ourselves alone if our way of life was taught to all nations the pros and cons would lead us on to a mutual understanding amongst ourselves.
To make your enemy your friend should be the goal of all nations. If we were to choose debates in forming our negotiations with all nations we may learn from our enemy and they may learn from us.
"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy."
All things being equal, there would be no war. And yet, all things will not be equal. Some nation will always have something some other nation wants, whether it's resources, industrial might, or a way of life. One of the ways to end war is with trade, of course, yet then again it's hard to imagine 'all things being equal' in that regard.
One solution is to send those who wish to make war into the battlefield to see the horrors for themselves up close instead of sending some poor kid to do the deed.
War, as with disease, is something we just might have to live with. We just don't have to like it very much.
What you were told as a Marine when going to the Vietnam War, that you must "fight to keep your freedom" is emblematic of the lie of war. Keep your freedom? From an overseas enemy so primitive they barely had an air force, and had to bicycle barefoot through the jungles?
Vietnam wasn't about protecting Americans, it was about securing French Colonial rule, whose brutalization of its inhabitants sort of opened the door for Communists.
Yet, it happened again with Iraq, when Bush the war criminal at large insisted at first that it was to disarm a madman of weapons of mass destruction. When that lie was revealed, it was "to protect our freedoms". Our freedoms were not in danger. Then it was all about the Iraqis wanting or needing democracy and freedom. The fallacy of that lie was that it was an afterthought when Bush's original arguments failed. The truth seems to be that Iraq was a war for profiteers, like Haliburton and Black Water, and had nothing whatsoever to do with preserving rights or liberty, not for the Iraqi, and certainly not for Americans.
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