The Iraq War, an armed conflict that began with the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, was led by the United States during the tenure of President George Bush Jr. A military action, it was planned at the global level by the US. The US leaders were very hopeful of the results of this strategy. However, I had grave misgivings about this war and made a contrary statement about its possible result in an interview with a national daily long before the war was initiated. This interview was published with the title: US Aggression would be Counter-Productive.1
I made this statement not on the basis of some mysterious knowledge, but on the basis of long experience of history. It is a fact that throughout history it has never happened that the desired result could be arrived at through military action. This proved to be true for the wars waged by Alexander the Great (356 – 324 BC) and Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) and it applies likewise to all the warmongers of the present day.
It has been seen that not only does the side that loses face defeat, but even the winning side can only score a Pyrrhic victory, that is, a victory in which the victor’s losses are as great as or even greater than those of the defeated. The phrase Pyrrhic victory is named after Greek King Pyrrhus of Epirus (318 – 272 BC), whose army suffered an enormous number of casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War.
History repeated itself in the twentieth century in the case of the Second World War in which Great Britain was one of the major participants. When the war began, the British Empire was spread over so vast an area that, as the Scottish newspaper Caledonian Mercury once wrote,
‘On her dominions the sun never sets.’ (15 October 1821, p. 4.)
But towards the end of the Second World War, Britain’s strength became greatly diminished and, because of its inability to retain its control over the empire, it had no option but to set free all its colonies, including India, whose independence was announced by the British Viceroy Lord Mountbatten on August 15, 1947.
The greatest disadvantage of war is that its result is generally unforeseeable. In history no war has ever been fought whose consequence turned out to be exactly as expected. War is an entirely unpredictable game, one which causes little other than destruction. Thus, war is like jumping into a blind alley.
The case of peace is quite different. Peaceful planning inevitably produces the desired result. The example of war is like a plant with thorns, which will produce nothing but thorns when it grows into a tree. One who expects flowers from a thorn tree is living in a fool’s paradise. Peace, on the other hand, is like a fruit-bearing plant which will yield fruits when it matures.
If the way of war and violence proved detrimental even in the earlier ages, the invention of weapons of mass destruction in the second half of the twentieth century has simply ruled out war as an option. Now the only option before an individual or group is that of peaceful struggle; violent struggle is not viable for anyone, even for the super powers.
If a person or group initiates war in the twenty-first century, they will prove that either they are completely unaware of the present realities or they have, because of some kind of false belief, made suicidal death their goal.
On the one hand, due to the development of technology, war in the present age has not remained an option for anyone. On the other hand, this same modern technology has opened up so many opportunities outside the battlefield that an individual can be hugely successful by simply treading the path of peace.
This historical change ought to be an eye-opener for all those who are involved in terrorist activities. Experience shows that till now their actions have not enabled them to gain anything positive. Their case is not an exception. This, too, will certainly be the case in the future. If extremists persist in terrorism, that will be tantamount to increasing their own losses.
Terrorists must realize that the sword may be named a ‘flower sword’, but it will not actually turn into a flower. Similarly, if the terrorists portray their acts as being designed to achieve a beautiful goal, even then they will prove to be unsuccessful. They must put an end to their violence without further delay and return to the path of peace.
Source: The Age of Peace
