Human beings have been going to war with each other since the dawn of time, whether it be for land, power or resources. However, who’s to says that war is the only way to go about confrontation? Although hundreds of thousands of years ago going to war may have been a collective decision made by a whole community or tribe, nowadays these decisions that are life changing for many, are mainly made by individuals in power, whilst much of the population object to the use of violence. If the decision to go to war is made, countries should also have to face the responsibilities that come with it, such as the large number of people left displaced and homeless because of the raised conflict in their lives.
Today, the majority don’t question their country’s use of military and force against terrorist organizations such as the so-called “Islamic State” rule in the Middle East. However, when we think about this closer, we must realize that we are essentially fighting fire with fire. Bombing for peace in an oxymoron that today’s world leaders cannot get enough of. Recent examples of this include Donald Trump’s decision to carry out strikes on Syria. Whilst this may have been in response to a horrendous chemical attack carried our earlier that month on citizens by what US intelligence think to be Assad’s regime, it is a given that civilians will get hurt as a result of the US attack, even if that is not the intention. This the case for most attacks. Most importantly it is not fair that civilians and children get caught up in the brutality of the violence when the actual disagreements are between the leaders.
For centuries we have seen countries try to weaken their opposition by making the population week through starvation, unemployment etc. as was the case in the 1948-1949 Berlin Blockade. However, this is fundamentally wrong and leaders need to realize that while they have superficial negotiations and meetings in front of the camera, the harsh reality of what they are doing to each others country can be seen on the front lines. Although the enemy leader may be the target — the people who suffer are always the innocent.
Bombing for peace is an oxymoron that today’s leaders cannot get enough of
Violent attacks have caused some of the biggest global problems the world has ever seen, such as the current refugee crisis. There are currently around 65.3 million forcibly displaced people worldwide and for the most part, the countries carrying out the attacks are not the ones who are offering to host these refugees who are fleeing from the violence the attacking countries are causing. In the UK only 0.18% of the total population are refugees whilst developing countries, most of which can hardly provide for their own populations, home 80% of the world’s refugees. These statistics show that Western Powers have to take responsibility for the problems they create through the use of violence. We cannot leave refugees to fend for themselves whilst our governments continually drop bombs on their homes.
We need to take action. If you live here in the UK, write to your local MP about your concerns regarding the number of refugees your area takes in. Join your local Stop the War group or attend non-violent protests. We can see that with war, history often repeats itself. However, history also teaches us that a country will have a difficulty participating in a war if the war doesn’t have the support of its own people. We cannot wait for another distressing image to shake social media before we take matters into our own hands. As cliché as it sounds, violence is never the answer as it always gets the wrong people hurt and causes knock off effects, because after all, an “eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
