WHY WAR?

Why War?

Simplest definition of war is “a state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country.” However its real meaning are “a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air. a state or period of armed hostility or active military operations”. Some of the most common type of war includes Cold war, Colonial war, Insurgency, War of independence, War of liberation, Civil war, Fratricide, Border war, Fault line war, Invasion, Proxy war and Range war. A war is typically fought by a country or group of countries against an opposing country with the aim of achieving an objective through the use of force. Wars can also be fought within a country in the form of a civil or revolutionary war.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "war" is defined as:

1.       A state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country.

2.       A state of competition or hostility between different people or groups.

3.       A sustained campaign against an undesirable situation or activity.

There can be a number of reasons that people and different nations get into war with each other however according to a study following are the major reasons that leads us to indulge in a war:

Ø  Economic Gain.

Ø  Territorial Gain.

Ø  Religion.

Ø  Nationalism.

Ø  Revenge.

Ø  Civil War.

Ø  Revolutionary War.

Ø  Defensive War.

“Man lives consciously for himself, but serves as an unconscious instrument for the achievement of historical, universally human goals.” There are always adverse and destructive outcome of a war as it affects the society badly. War has detrimental effects on society. Although war may financially benefit a country and stimulate the economy, it has detrimental effects on politics, economics and society. War causes the foreign policy to change. However there are groups of people who believe that war is important because it forces people to innovate for good or bad. War is important because it allows people to beat others. On the other side the most common negative impacts of war include loss of human lives, economic losses due to destruction of capital as well as disruption of trade, human suffering, the spread of diseases, displacement of people and destruction of the environment,

Secondly war has significant impacts on the environment. Not only can war be destructive to the socio-environment, but military activities produce extensive amounts of greenhouse gases (that contribute to anthropogenic climate change), pollution, and cause resource depletion, among other environmental impacts. War can cause a bad impact on the mind of children and these consequences can take on many forms - including feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression, as well as exposure to physical and sexual exploitation. Beside they will have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety are some of the emotional effects that can be generated even in elders.

Another effect of war is the mass destruction of cities and has long lasting effects on a country's economy. Armed conflicts have important indirect negative consequences on, infrastructure, public health provision, and social order. These indirect consequences are often overlooked and underappreciated. More importantly economic effects of wars are drastic as it will lead to consumption of economy as a percentage of GDP decreased during most conflicts. ... In sum, the higher levels of government spending associated with war tends to generate economic decline and financial shortfalls.

One should not overlook that beside all these bad things that are associated with war there are some positive aspects c attached to wars. Socially, speaking there are some potential benefits to war. War can liberate oppressed peoples. War can remove oppressive regimes from power and/or tyrants. There are certainly few benefits--except to the victors, and that usually comes at a high cost in lives and money. But honestly this positive side of a war cannot justify we going into war on all other things.

In a war, both sides genuinely believe that they are on the side of righteousness, yet no righteousness ever shows them the futility of the very war they are fighting. Because, both sides are driven by the instinctual force of nationalist patriotism. So, think of the countless wars that have caused gallons and gallons of bloodshed, all because warriors on both sides were incapable of reasoning due to the cognitive blindness caused by nationalism. And to me all this will lead to share destruction. To me peace is the best form of living as Allah (God) has created this world to live in peace and harmony, respecting, caring and loving each other.  As peace is a stress-free state of security and calmness that comes when there's no fighting or war, everything coexisting in perfect harmony and freedom. ... When you feel at peace with yourself, you are content to be the person you are, flaws and everything.

In short all I can say is that peace is important because of the uncertainty of our life time – how much of it we have and how well we can use it to the best of our abilities. It does not need to be a serious illness to upset our sense of being at peace. Plenty of other events, people and even we ourselves can do that just as well. As life is interconnected, our fear, hatred and anger decrease the peace in the world, whereas our love, joy and gratitude increase the peace. Why is peace important? Without it, the destructive tendencies of our species will continue to inch us closer to catastrophes.  To me living in peace is about living harmoniously with yourself, others, and all sentient beings around you. While your definition of a peaceful life might vary from someone else's, there are things you can do to promote peace in your life.

Being a Peace lover I strongly believes in “One, who stops a war before it starts, is the real victor. To me what we lost sight of is that conducting war is easy, maintaining and organizing the peace is a more daunting task. This will be summed up not better than the words of Tolstoy when he said

“Yes, love, ...but not the love that loves for something, to gain something, or because of something, but that love that I felt for the first time, when dying, I saw my enemy and yet loved him. I knew that feeling of love which is the essence of the soul, for which no object is needed. And I know that blissful feeling now too. To love one's neighbors; to love one's enemies. To love everything - to Love God in all His manifestations. Someone dear to one can be loved with human love; but an enemy can only be loved with divine love. And that was why I felt such joy when I felt that I loved that man. What happened to him? Is he alive? ...Loving with human love, one may pass from love to hatred; but divine love cannot change. Nothing, not even death, can shatter it. It is the very nature of the soul. And how many people I have hated in my life. And of all people none I have loved and hated more than her... If it were only possible for me to see her once more.. once, looking into those eyes to say..”Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace.

In the end I Humbly request  all MY readers NOT TO ENCOURAGE AND INDULGE IN WARs and TRY TO LIVE  PEACEFULLY TO MAKE THIS WORLD A HEAVEN TOO.

By: Ovais Asad Khan