(This is section 6 of the World Beyond War white paper A Global Security System: An Alternative to War. Continue to preceding | following section.)
Ten million died in World War I, 50 to 100 million in World War II. Weapons of mass destruction could, if used, end civilization on the planet. In modern wars it is not only soldiers that die on the battlefield. The concept of “total war” carried the destruction to non-combatants as well so that today many more civilians— women, children, old men–die in battles than do soldiers. It has become a common practice of modern armies to indiscriminately rain high explosives on cities where large concentrations of civilians try to survive the carnage.
As long as war is looked upon as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.
Oscar Wilde (Writer and Poet)
War degrades and destroys the ecosystems upon which civilization rests. Preparation for war creates and releases tons of toxic chemicals. Most Superfund sites in the U.S. are on military bases. Nuclear weapons factories like Fernald in Ohio and Hanford in Washington State have contaminated ground and water with radioactive waste that will be poisonous for thousands of years. War fighting leaves thousands of square miles of land useless and dangerous because of landmines, depleted uranium weapons, and bomb craters that fill with water and become malaria infested. Chemical weapons destroy rainforest and mangrove swamps. The military forces use vast amounts of oil and emit tons of greenhouse gases.
(Continue to preceding | following section.)
We want to hear from you! (Please share comments below)
How has this led you to think differently about alternatives to war?
What would you add, or change, or question about this?
What can you do to help more people understand about these alternatives to war?
How can you take action to make this alternative to war a reality?
Please share this material widely!
Related posts
See other posts related to “Why is an Alternative Global Security System both Desirable and Necessary?”
See full table of contents for A Global Security System: An Alternative to War
One Response
Check out this paper by Willy Bach on the use of Agent Orange and other defoliants: “Britain, Australia, the United States and Agent Orange in the Indochina Wars: Re-defining Chemical-Biological Warfare: research paper (6 March 2015)” http://honesthistory.net.au/wp/bach-willy-agent-orange-in-vietnam/