Assignment 9 – Dilni Abeyrathne

War, violence, terror, misery – will they ever end? No. No matter how insufferable they seem, they always lurk at the back door, in the shadows, waiting to pounce. A dreary picture, is it not?

War – why does it exist? What purpose does it serve? These represent some of the questions flitting through my mind when I think of this violence-ridden subject. My answer, simply, is that war should not exist. Of course, this is not a Utopian society, or else war would not touch our lives. War is inevitable. It always has been and always will. So why is it that I act so vehemently towards it?

War consists of several far-from-positive aspects: violence, misery, sorrow. Two groups fight one another, the result being spilt blood on both sides, staining the previously pristine ground crimson. Simply put, people die. And where there is death, there is misery. Think of the poor families of those soldiers who left the living. What misery must they be facing? Nothing good, I assure you. War is impractical, it serves no purpose other than to settle conflicts that could have been easily settled through negotiation, had the participating sides took time to even consider sparing the bloodshed. Why fight to the death when diplomacy is an option? Why not settle for the less crimson-stained choice?

In moral terms, war is not just or right. Killing in cold-blood, only perceiving the notion that one side must win – how is this morally right? Is killing another individual right? Is it just? No, it is not. Everyone deserves the chance to live, to breathe, to not die by the hands of another. Diplomacy is an option, a viable option. Diplomacy could settle these war-inducing conflict without spilling any precious blood. So, why resort to war? I see no logical reason, other than the fact that it is human nature.

Spilled blood, broken families—we could all do without this miserable existence.