Is it what it seems?

Bertand Russell once said, “war does not determine who’s right- only who’s left”. Indeed, it does. War more often than not leaves a trail of devastation in its aftermath to all those that is involved. Unfortunately, this also affects the non-combatants as well.

Why do people go to war? Many often justify this question by saying that they do it because they want to help a weaker state. That would be a more definite answer to the involvement of American troops in the two world wars. And so it seems that being in a war is alright as long as one believes what he does is right. Unfortunately, that is not to be the latent functions of it all. It seems that dominance, extension of one’s boundaries, ideals and more recently, economic power seems to be the underlying, unexpressed factors that countries like America decided to go to war.

In my encounter with American troops on a bilateral exercise, my curiosity led me to asking them why they are involved in the Iraqi war. They often gave the same reply saying that they are there to help the Iraqi people who have been oppressed by Dictator Saadam Hussein. They want to inculcate the values of democracy hoping that it would free their lives. And every single soldier I asked gave an almost similar response. Perhaps, they have been socialized into this as their superiors have gotten them to internalize these values.

These soldiers signed up for this noble mission of theirs for one particular event: 9/11. This is the overall response that I received when I asked them as to why they signed up in the first place. Many of the soldiers that I have interacted with happen to be “veterans” of Iraqi Freedom. In fact, they happened to be one of the first few when that operation began. Nationalism seemed to have spurred them into action. The collapse of the World Trade Centre seemed to pull Americans together, pulling its young into the ranks to fight a war that is far away from its own land.

As it has been observed in the previous major conflicts around the war, the last war that was fought on American soil was probably the American Civil war from 1861 till 1865. However, the next wars onwards were fought on foreign soils. None of the effects of war ever reached their lands. But why did conflicts affect their actions and decision to enter the war?

One of the main arguments that conspiracy theorist have constructed would be the American government’s interest of economic might. It has been theorized that the presence of WMD in Iraqi was doctored just so that they could convince the international community that their invasion of Iraq was justifiable. However, the conspiracy theory is that they were just in it for the oil. They also could possible gain a new market for the American companies. It has been noted that financially and economically, the year that they entered the war was such a good one. They were in it for the economic gain so it seems.

Did they really want to eliminate these WMDs to protect the world’s populace? Did they want to free the Iraqis from their oppressor? Possibly, maybe they are just another oppressor since they want to instil their ideals of democracy into the people of Iraq. Evidence indeed has shown that every war that the Americans went to benefitted them tremendously. World war two brought them out of a slump that the great depression put them in. Hence, a new war, Operation Iraqi freedom could possibly bring them out of a financial deficit (by the trillions) that the cold war has brought them? Perhaps that is the case. After all, anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for.

Bertand Russell once said, “war does not determine who’s right- only who’s left”. Indeed, it does. War more often than not leaves a trail of devastation in its aftermath to all those that is involved. Unfortunately, this also affects the non-combatants as well.

Why do people go to war? Many often justify this question by saying that they do it because they want to help a weaker state. That would be a more definite answer to the involvement of American troops in the two world wars. And so it seems that being in a war is alright as long as one believes what he does is right. Unfortunately, that is not to be the latent functions of it all. It seems that dominance, extension of one’s boundaries, ideals and more recently, economic power seems to be the underlying, unexpressed factors that countries like America decided to go to war.

In my encounter with American troops on a bilateral exercise, my curiosity led me to asking them why they are involved in the Iraqi war. They often gave the same reply saying that they are there to help the Iraqi people who have been oppressed by Dictator Saadam Hussein. They want to inculcate the values of democracy hoping that it would free their lives. And every single soldier I asked gave an almost similar response. Perhaps, they have been socialized into this as their superiors have gotten them to internalize these values.

These soldiers signed up for this noble mission of theirs for one particular event: 9/11. This is the overall response that I received when I asked them as to why they signed up in the first place. Many of the soldiers that I have interacted with happen to be “veterans” of Iraqi Freedom. In fact, they happened to be one of the first few when that operation began. Nationalism seemed to have spurred them into action. The collapse of the World Trade Centre seemed to pull Americans together, pulling its young into the ranks to fight a war that is far away from its own land.

As it has been observed in the previous major conflicts around the war, the last war that was fought on American soil was probably the American Civil war from 1861 till 1865. However, the next wars onwards were fought on foreign soils. None of the effects of war ever reached their lands. But why did conflicts affect their actions and decision to enter the war?

One of the main arguments that conspiracy theorist have constructed would be the American government’s interest of economic might. It has been theorized that the presence of WMD in Iraqi was doctored just so that they could convince the international community that their invasion of Iraq was justifiable. However, the conspiracy theory is that they were just in it for the oil. They also could possible gain a new market for the American companies. It has been noted that financially and economically, the year that they entered the war was such a good one. They were in it for the economic gain so it seems.

Did they really want to eliminate these WMDs to protect the world’s populace? Did they want to free the Iraqis from their oppressor? Possibly, maybe they are just another oppressor since they want to instil their ideals of democracy into the people of Iraq. Evidence indeed has shown that every war that the Americans went to benefitted them tremendously. World war two brought them out of a slump that the great depression put them in. Hence, a new war, Operation Iraqi freedom could possibly bring them out of a financial deficit (by the trillions) that the cold war has brought them? Perhaps that is the case. After all, anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for.