September 2018 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.

Perpetual Wars and Why?

Marge Van Cleef

“Why War,” “War No More,” “Addicted to War,” “Wired for War,” “War Without End,” words all too commonly heard. Laurie Calhoun wrote a book entitled, “We Kill Because We Can.” If we think for a minute, that may be a clear statement describing our country's politics and military missions, globally.

Since the end of WW II, our government has invaded Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, (with NATO) Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Lebanon. War in Yemen depends on U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia. When Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attacks, it signified the last time the U.S. officially declared war. Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq: technically, those were not wars. Those conflicts, and others in between, are considered “Extended Military Engagements.” The decision to declare nuclear war is clearly stated in Daniel Ellsberg's “Doomsday Machine” (2017).

Former Vice President Dick Cheney stated that “war is desirable” as he and Pres. G.W. Bush declared the “global war on terror” after September 11, 2001. These attacks were the catalysts for a new era of war and extended executive powers. Afghanistan, Iraq (2003), Syria, Yemen, and soon to include African countries. (A major U.S. military base in Djibouti.)

In 1991, under the Presidency of George H.W. Bush, the Gulf War began with an extensive aerial bombing campaign on 17 January 1991. The Coalition flew over 100,000 sorties, dropping 88,500 tons of bombs, and widely destroying military and civilian infrastructure. This Gulf War was followed by horrific sanctions on Iraq that continued into 2003 and obviously brought death and destruction, without bombs. It basically destroyed Iraq's infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, libraries, etc. and caused extreme hardship for the people.

With bravado Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, based on false information. Thus began the Iraq War and occupation, 2003-2011. Even with 10 million people worldwide in the streets protesting the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Bush and company went ahead with their plans. “We kill because we can.”

After the 9/11 World Trade Center attack, while there was no verification that Afghanistan as a country was responsible for the attack, Bush invaded Afghanistan and thus began this 17 year unending war. It was recently announced that NATO will build a command/control center in Afghanistan, another likely escalation of a war that clearly seems to be unending, called the “forever war.”

Yemen is presently in the midst of a civil war where Saudi Arabia is fighting its proxy war with Iran. Civilians are again paying the price, with death and starvation and cholera epidemics. At least 6,660 civilians have been killed and 10,563 injured in the conflict, according to the UN. Thousands more civilians have died from preventable causes, including malnutrition, disease and poor health.

The United States has conducted a total of 34 strikes in Yemen in 2018.

“90% of people killed in today’s wars are civilians, mostly women and children.” (ref: World Bank)

The U.S. and coalition wars have created failed states which create a political vacuum and more often become a breeding ground for “terrorists.” It is a circular situation, more bombs, more U.S. support for these failed states, with weapons and military personnel. Local populations which bear the consequences of the destruction are looking for alternatives.

The United States maintains 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad and the U.S. military arsenal is the largest and most powerful in the world. It includes 18 Trident submarines. Each submarine can carry 24 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) designated Trident D5 and each missile can carry up to eight 100 kiloton nuclear warheads (about 30 times the explosive force as the Hiroshima bomb). The D5 missile is capable of traveling over 1,370 miles in less than 13 minutes, allowing for a U.S. nuclear strike anywhere on planet earth within 15 minutes. (ref: King's Bay Plowshares.org)

What about the non-nuclear warfare being used? Drones, the new weapons of choice, allow American lives to be spared while civilian lives in the countries targeted are lost. No recourse, except for the fact that the drone operators are suffering, as they sit at computers, watching “suspects” thousands of miles away, and conclude they must be wiped out. An attack might target a family celebrating a wedding.

Is it likely, as Laurie Calhoun has written, it was the Vietnam War that gave the license to kill civilians and thus put in place the U.S. policy that attacks on civilians would have no consequences for the U.S.

One of the “goals/objectives” of unending war is support for the U.S. military-industrial complex, i.e. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrup Grumman, Boeing, General Atomics, to name the largest companies. Their lobbying of legislators and the Administration insures that wars continue. The weapons are developed and sold, to the highest and only bidders, the U.S. and other governments. “A state of perpetual war is an aid to and is promoted by the powerful members of dominant political and economic classes, helping maintain their positions of economic and political superiority.” Noam Chomsky

Another reason to expect more wars, globally is that “The number of hungry people in the world is growing again, in large part due to climate change that is wreaking havoc on crop production in much of the developing world,” the United Nations said recently. U.N. agencies report that the number of hungry people facing chronic food deprivation increased to 821 million in 2017 from 804 million in 2016, reversing recent downward trends. South America and Africa showed the worst increase. People are being displaced by flooding and other catastrophes caused by warming of the oceans and the air. We know why these changes are happening, yet with their destructive patterns the U.S. Administration and Congress refuse to take necessary measures to avert some of

the dangers caused by climate change. And presently they ban immigrants who may come from countries affected by those dangers.

So why the wars? They keep money flowing to corporations that produce weapons, control territories and resources, and support goals of “wiping out” terrorists, even as we create more jihadists by drone killings, bombings, counterinsurgencies.

As we review U.S. warmaking policies, the question remains, “What can we do about it?” Are we as a country destined to continue being imperial aggressors, expansionists, invaders? Does being able to “kill because we can” lead us to a very cynical place where war becomes acceptable, whatever the cost?

Take note, on Sept 19, 2018, North and South Korea declared, “An era of no war has started.” For what it's worth, we might appreciate the statement.

Martin Luther King Jr. warned us in 1967 to recognize the “fierce urgency of now”, referring to the “madness of Vietnam.” We have a choice, “Nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation.” We are still faced with that choice.

Marge VanCleef is the organizer of the monthly Death Walk Against Drone Warfare.