Assignment 9 - Anna Baskin

“Is there a time for war?”

That’s a loaded question, and one I doubt I’m qualified to answer. Greater minds than mine have grappled with the meaning and necessity of war, and found few consistent, applicable answers. Some will tell you war is never the solution, and that all world leaders should favor diplomacy as the only option, but this seems remarkably one-sided. Mankind has a sad history of abusing and enslaving fellow our fellow men – often ended only through war. Benjamin Franklin said, “There was never a good war or a bad peace.” I’m not sure the Jews in Nazi Germany would agree.

However, that is not to say that war is always the solution to injustice. Without proper planning war can go disastrously wrong, bringing about the same injustices the war strove to end. In addition, a group’s sense of cultural, moral, or military superiority – always a significant cause of war – can have adverse effects. During the Era of Colonization, Britain fought to secure territory in Africa, India, and America. They believed it was their right, as those with the “superior” culture and military, to claim the land and educate the uncivilized natives. They called it just; in modern days, we call it reprehensible. 

In the end, my thinking most coincides with Ernest Hemingway: “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” Despite a just cause, war is appalling and horrific. Even soldiers fighting the condemnable Nazis struggled seeing the faces of the fallen young German boys, so similar to themselves. War, while sometimes necessary, should always be a last resort to diplomacy.