Why countries avoid war?

“War leaves mental as well as physical scars.” When something drastic happens in your life it
always leaves an impact on your memories. This has happened to those who have lived through
wars, not only memories but also mental and physical scars. Some of those who have endured
wars first hand and have suffered with scars both mental and physical left by war have recorded
their experiences in autobiographies and poems. War could be defined as per various
encyclopedias as “a contest between nations or states, carried on by force, whether for
defence, for revenging insults and redressing wrongs, for the extension of commerce, for the
acquisition of territory, for obtaining and establishing the superiority and dominion of one over
the other, or for any other purpose; armed conflict of sovereign powers; declared and open
hostilities.”

It means to Invade or attack a state or nation with force of arms; to carry on hostilities; to be in a
state by violence. “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”
(William Pitt, 1783)

The younger Prime Minister of United Kingdom said a million words statement. This powerful
statement brings into reality the depth of feeling that can bring a nation or a people to war. As we
study wars of the past, we can see individually, the major factors as to why the war was waged.
For example, nationalism, alliances, and military strategy are cited as the main causes of World
War I. World War II can be attributed in part to the Great Depression. The Vietnam War was
the U.S.’s attempt at supporting the South Vietnamese government against North Vietnamese
government. We are now in the middle of not only one war, but two; one with its roots in an
attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and one as a result of American
Invasion of Afghanistan tribal areas unrest have engulfed us in the practically long lasting state
of war. On September 11th 2001 two planes were hijacked and crashed into the Twin Towers(the
World Trade Center) ,people also over looked that supposedly one plane was crashed in to the
Pentagon and one was heading to the White House but was brought down by the passengers in
midflight. After the planes crashed the World Trade Center Imploded killing a few thousand
people. The Hijackers were working for al-Qaeda a fanatical religious group who controlled
Afghanistan. Its surprising however that the Americans during the cold war helped to set up
al-Qaeda in Afghanistan by arming them to fight their soviet oppressors. After the soviet troops
retreated the Americans left Al-Qaeda to run Afghanistan.

After the bombings of Sept 11th America had the worlds support in the fact that Afghanistan
needed to be taught a lesson. America pledged war against terrorism and anyone who harbored
terrorists. Countries such as Pakistan who showed a small liking for Afghanistan backed off and
let America use its airfields after this declaration of war against terror even Russia who weren't
great friends of America were letting the Americans use a big airbase near Afghanistan. Thus
began the war on terror after NATO allowed that some action must be taken against Afghanistan
and the Al-Qaida. The coalition moved in to take Afghanistan.

The aim of this invasion was to crush the terrorist threat in Afghanistan and end the rule of
Osama bin Laden over Afghanistan by capturing him. The Coalition self claimed partially
succeeded in their first objective and defeated the Taliban in Afghanistan they however have
failed to capture Osama bin Laden who is rumored to reside in the Pakistani mountains. He is
believed to continue to co ordinate terrorist attacks on the west and periodically releases tapes
congratulating the Muslims for blowing various things up..

America had great support after 9/11 but after the invasion of Afghanistan the coalition invaded
Iraq saying that Saddam Hussein was harboring terrorists and had WMD's (Weapons of mass
Destruction) which were capable of being launched against the civilized in under 30 minutes.
Many nations didn't agree on this and still don't today. The last time that anybody went to war
with Iraq is when Saddam invaded Kuwait, but Kuwait asked NATO and America to help. This
was the last time they would be united against Iraq. This time NATO said that they were on their
own. After the Americans invaded Iraq apart from relieving a tyrant from the ruling the Iraqi
people they found no terrorists.

We cannot effectively study the causes of war and come to conclusions about each, without
delving into the human mind and heart. While history shows that each incident is fought for
different reasons and with different intent, each cause can be linked to an underlying need for
power, a need for freedom, a need for expansion or even a need for survival. Wars are also based
on a need to be right or even righteous, as well as a need to hate. War then is not just a matter of
X happened, so Y must happen. It is deep-seeded in the feelings of every human, and can be
traced back to their perceived need.

No matter what side of the proverbial “line in the sand” you stand on, war, to you is devastating.
No matter what the reasons or how well intended they may be, war’s lasting effects can be
deadening. That leaves the question, “Is war avoidable?” Are we to spend our lives on this earth
on a constant roller coaster of war and peace?

While it seems like someone is always at war, one can argue the existence of a utopia--argue
whether or not a utopia has ever, or will ever, exist. It has been defined as, “an ideally perfect
place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.” While I don’t believe that true utopia
can ever exist on the earth, I do believe we can only be at peace with one another if we study and
learn from the past.

Knowing history is very important to our understanding of human nature and our ability to
change a course of events to avoid those things that would lead us to war. First and foremost, an
understanding of who we really are and where we really come from will give us the foundation
of equality. By seeing each other as no more or less important as another, as Allah intended, we
are less likely to want to hurt each other. We gain a greater appreciation for others as we walk in
their shoes, and come to know a little of their unique experience on this earth. Second of all, we
must learn tolerance for differences. The world is full of so much diversity, not to make life
difficult, but to make it more beautiful and less stagnant. When we come to accept others’
differences and see them as constructive, not destructive, we get a sense of everyone’s purpose
and how that purpose is different for everyone. Finally, we must work to teach others, once we
have educated ourselves. You can only do so much as a single entity, but by teaching others, you
extend your reach way beyond your own capacity. The saying “knowledge is power” is proven
time and time again, and when we can be an instrument in bringing knowledge to others, our joy
is increased tenfold.

It’s been said that if you don’t learn from the mistakes of the past, you’re bound to repeat them.
We each have a responsibility to learn all we can about the history of our world, because we are
a product of that history. We cannot progress in ignorance, so only by study can we learn where
we came from how to get to where we want to go.

Conclusion:

A war gives us nothing but heavy human loss estimated that millions of soldiers and an equal
number of civilians lost their lives and a number of permanently disabled were countless.
Enormous destruction of property, feeling of insecurity, heavy economic losses, acute shortage
of essential commodities, hardships to the common man, emergence of super powers - US and
USSR, Cold War’s, regional instability, heavy trade losses and above all destruction of heritage
and culture which is attained by any nation after having efforts of centuries.

War is a terrible thing for a human to go through at any age. When people are exposed to and
involved in war they watch people they know and loved ones die. They see all the things they
knew, destroyed. All these things build up inside of them and a part of them is challenged
confused or simply it dies. Although the physical effect of war on people and the surroundings,
which were destroyed, is obvious, war also affects a person entirely and something inside their
soul is changed and they are mentally and physically scarred for life. War does, indeed, leave
mental and as well as physical scars.