War and its consequences

John Milton pointed out that "the beginning of war may be discerned not only by the first act of hostility, but by the counsels and preparations foregoing." That is certainly true of the current war against terrorists. The destruction of the World Trade Center by two hijacked commercial planes certainly took a great time to prepare.

There is no more humanistic view of war as that defined by Polybius, who said: "It is not the object of war to annihilate those who have given provocation for it, but to cause them to mend their ways; not to ruin the innocent and the guilty, but to save both."

These two thoughts are very important if we are to understand the hostilities in Afghanistan. It is true that innocent civilians have become victims of the American bombing of Taliban military centers, but that was not intentional. The same thing cannot be said of the thousands of innocent people who got killed in the World Trade Center. They were the real target of the terrorists.

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant said something that is also pertinent to the present war in Afghanistan. "The art of war," he observed, "is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get him as soon as you can. Strike at him as hard as you can and as often as you can, and keep moving on." That in essence is what Americans are doing in Afghanistan. The problem is that they are actually and literally looking for one man, Osama bin Laden. Afghanistan has given him shelter and protection and there is no way to get at bin Laden without military action against Afghanistan.

In a way, this is the most humane war we have read about. The mere fact that American forces are dropping food and medicine to help the Afghanistan refugees clearly show that in no way do they intentionally want to harm any civilian.

The saddest part about the war against international terrorist is that it is drawing attention and action on the war against poverty. If anything, the activities of misled terrorists will aggravate the poverty situation in third world countries. Foreign investments will withdraw their monetary interests in countries that condone terrorism. Businessmen will not invest in foreign countries where even their lives are not safe.

Terrorism cannot solve any of the world’s problems. It can only create greater problems. It was Aristotle who first observed that "we make war that we may live in peace." Sounds like a contradiction, but it’s true. Terrorism is the devil’s way of starting the 3rd millennium. The world should be waging a war against poverty. Right now, the terrorists are the greatest instigators of poverty. We should build, not destroy.