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February 25, 2008 at 10:46:37
by Bruce K. Gagnon Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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One major reason to call for the abolition of all war is that in the "technological age" it is civilians who do the majority of the dieing.
As we are seeing in Iraq today, where over 1.2 million people have died since the U.S. illegal and immoral invasion of 2003, it is the innocent who are perishing.
In WW I, for every 100 deaths, 95 were military and 5 were civilian.
In WW II for every 100 deaths, 33 were military deaths as compared to 67 civilian deaths.
Hitler used his V-2 rockets to strike the cities of London, Paris, and Brussels. Clearly civilians were the targets.
The U.S. introduced the mass fire bombing of cities like Dresden and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands of civilians lost their lives.
Estimates for the total casualties of WW II vary, but most suggest that some 60 million people died in the war, including about 20 million soldiers and 40 million civilians.
Gino Strada, war surgeon and founder of Emergency Italia, with extensive first-hand experience in many modern war theaters, has argued that over 80% of casualties in modern high-tech wars are civilians.
There can be no such thing as a "just war" any longer. How could wars that kill innocent people who are not engaged in the fighting be called "just"?
We must call for the abolition of all war. It must be outlawed for a nation to spend their national treasury on weapons systems that end up killing women, children, and the elderly.
Like the abolition of slavery in the U.S., the abolition of war is a huge struggle that appears impossible to reach. But history reveals that such changes are possible if the people are single-minded and determined over time.
We must call for the conversion of the military industrial complex as our first-step in the abolition of war.
http://www.space4peace.org
Bruce Gagnon is the Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.
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| 4 comments |
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Reply: That was funny
. by Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 23 diaries, 1308 comments) on Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008 at 2:09:33 AM  (0+)
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War Profits
You take the money Profits out of war and make it illegal to finance a war with debt financing, You'd find that the interest in war would decline proportionately. by "Hoss" David P. (51 articles, 5 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 338 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Feb 25, 2008 at 4:49:47 PM (0+)
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War WILL end......
Mr. Gagnon, Can you point to that time in human history where it was not the sheep that were slaughtered? Technology merely makes it easier to cull the flock. War will end, of that I have little doubt. But it will be lonnnng after you and I have reverted back to star stuff. Respectfully, Jim by James Strait (39 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 193 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Feb 25, 2008 at 4:52:21 PM (0+)
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Mr Gagnon We almost did abolish war
By we, I mean humankind almost did, in 1945, after two particularly bloody world wars had had a chance to make strong impressions on the minds of the citizens of the "free" or "civilized" world. The United Nations was put together "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brough untold sorrow to mankind". There are practical problems to abolishing war though. Peace requires agreement but war (like murder) can be started unilaterally and without agreement. The United Nations sort of worked for a while because it gave the world's 5 victorious WW2 powers, the power of veto on the security council. To oppose force you need to use force unfortunately and that means finding it where it can be found. by Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 23 diaries, 1308 comments) on Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008 at 3:04:15 AM (0+)
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