No Winners in War

I Call Bullshit!

I came across a post today that said something to the effect that “There are no winners in war.” And while this is indeed a noble sentiment, I found it to be quite naive. Let’s take a closer look, and I’ll list some of my reasons for saying it’s naive.

If there are no winners in war, how did former US Vice President Dick Chaney’s company — Halliburton — manage to make close to $40 billion from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars?

I can’t recall the amount off the top of my head, so can someone please remind me how much profit the former Blackwater company made?

And speaking of Blackwater, if nobody wins, why do we occasionally (although not yet in this century) put corporations on trial for war profiteering?

Look at Rome’s victory over Carthage, or that of Sparta over Athens. A Macedonian warlord by the name of Iskandar succeeded via war in conquering the entire known world of his day — and he did it before he was 30 years old. Never heard of him? Would it help if you knew we translate his name as Alexander, and usually put “the Great” at the end of it?

Even closer to home, we took possession of the Philippine Islands as a result of the Spanish-American War. The Mexican-American War got us ownership of Texas, which in turn led in part to the American Civil War.

With regards to us acquiring the State of Texas, I’ll admit that’s a pretty strong statement in support of the premise that “there are no winners in war.” At any rate, Texas coming into the Union as a slave state was a no-win situation for African-Americans at the time.

Yes, Virginia, there are indeed winners in war. And that is the whole problem. Unless and until we make the premise of “There are no winners in war” a verity, rather than a dream, there will always be war.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Son of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, said:

“I wonder at the human savagery that still exists in the world! How is it possible for men to fight from morning until evening, killing each other, shedding the blood of their fellow-men: And for what object? To gain possession of a part of the earth! Even the animals, when they fight, have an immediate and more reasonable cause for their…