War and Its Costs

As a pacifist I have little use for war, the military, and the jingoism that promotes it. I realize that military service is for many a family tradition and provides the discipline they seem to need to buff up their bodies and give them a sense of purpose and belonging. I could wish there was a more constructive way to provide young men and women with the same benefits. If the trillions spent on defense were used for more constructive purposes just think what a better world we would have. Many at the time reviled the Civilian Conservation Corps which formed part of Roosevelt's New Deal but I'd rather have the legacy of National Parks it created than a fleet of air craft carriers and fighter jets.

Those who have fought need to feel their sacrifice counted for something and the relatives of those who never returned need to sense their loss had meaning. Each November 11 we celebrate our glorious war dead. I had a great uncle who fought in the Great War who was never the same after his return. He never talked of his experience though he once showed me a tattered box of dusty medals.

An inveterate reader I have read books about World Wars I&II and the growing literature relating to the Vietnam Conflict not to mention Korea. Added to this is a growing literature surrounding the Gulf Wars and latterly the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. As time passes documents become declassified and those who experienced the event seem to find catharsis in writing about it.

I am continually struck by the waste of human potential in lives cut short in the prime of life. In a very real sense the family goes to war with the soldier. Children are raised without a father and family, relatives, friends, and community have to deal with the veteran who returns. Among the costs of war is that of caring for the wounded and as we are rapidly discovering not all wounds are physical and anyone exposed to that arena returns scarred for life. The cost of supporting the veterans of war is triple the cost of waging that war in the first place. As testimony to a growing malaise within the military today suicides account for more deaths than the enemy. Given today's life expectancy we can count on having to support that 25-year-old veteran for another 60 years. I may question the ethics of sending men to war in the first place but having done so we owe them the best possible care upon their return. Just look at the bulge in university education the followed upon the GI Bill.

Politicians and Generals wage wars and find in conflict a means of unifying public opinion and diverting attention from more contentious issues. Military production is good business and provides employment and economic opportunities. On the other hand would we rather commit trillions to the effort to send men to Mars or to the development of a more efficient mechanized robotic killing machine?