JUNE 16

War, Peace

Writing about the Gulf war of 1991, I wrote in my diary on Feb. 2, 1991, as follows: No matter which side earns the laurels of victory, the misery of the common man will only increase immeasurably. The impact will be felt even by the victor.

A month after writing this, this did become a reality after the end of the war. The war ended but the problems remained. Time magazine (April 15, 1991), giving a detailed report, tells us that after the victory in the Gulf war, the USA and its allies are confronting a new dilemma. (p.18)

Time magazine has published a few readers’ letters in response to this article in its May 6, 1991 publication. An American reader writes: ‘It looks like Bush has won the battle and lost the war in the Gulf.’ (Lloyd Ringuist, Marshfield, Wisconsin)

War can only bring about destruction. It cannot produce construction.  War can be won on the battlefield, but it cannot bring happiness in real life outside the battlefield. In spite of this fact, people rush into waging war because it appears to be such a great thing, whereas, in reality, peace is the great thing, and war is an abomination. If people were to realize this truth, they would rush towards peaceful construction. The battlefield would be devoid of fighters. War is always bracketed with heroism. Yet war does not yield any positive results. Peace appears to be zeroism, but all the best achievements are inevitably arrived at by peaceful means.