General Discussion

J_J_

(1,213 posts) Sun Oct 5, 2014, 03:27 PM Oct 2014

Why war? It's a question Americans should be asking.

For well over a decade — one might suggest over multiple decades — the United States has been engaged in war, yet so few in the public sphere seem willing to ask, as a Vietnam-era hit song did: “War, what is it good for?”
It seems plausible to argue that war is a phenomenon increasingly serving itself rather than any durable political goals.

some will argue that our nation was born of war, both revolutionary and civil, and events such as 9/11 require a response to assuage the passion of a people seeking revenge. Thus, war has purpose. It not only unites but, as journalist Chris Hedges argues, gives us meaning. Victory in war somehow makes us “feel” more American.Yet such generally accepted hypotheses of war and victory seem increasingly invalid. If war provides meaning, why, as Dudziak asks, does military engagement no longer require “the support of the American people but instead their inattention”?

The key seems to be to ask more meaningful questions about the difficulties of imposing one's will on others through the use of military force. If our political purpose is stability, security and promoting the spread of American ideals (and economic access), then civilian policymakers and military leaders seemingly need to ask how war can, in fact, further those political goals.

War has not offered predictability, it has not assuaged our fears of vulnerability, it has not left us with a more stable international environment. And it seems increasingly incapable of deterring future war.

So we come back to that song's question: “War, what is it good for?” And we have to at least consider the song's answer: “Absolutely nothing.”

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-1005-daddis-utility-of-war-20141005-story.html