[thechat] Just stirring the turd...

[judah at wiredotter.com]

At 12:02 PM 9/25/2001 -0400, Bill wrote:
>*******************************
>["Myth" #6]
>
>War has never solved anything.
>
>Quite the contrary. The three greatest scourges of the 20th century —
>Nazism, Japanese militarism, and Soviet Communism — were defeated through
>war or continued military resistance. More were killed by Hitler, Stalin,
>and Mao outside of combat than died in World Wars I and II. War, as Sherman
>said, is all hell, but as Heraclitus admitted it is also "the father of us
>all." Wickedness — whether chattel slavery, the gas chambers, or
>concentration camps — has rarely passed quietly into the night on its own.
>The present evil isn't going to either.
>*******************************
>
>Well?

I agree that war has changed things, sometimes for the better perhaps, but 
I think the situation is too complicated to say that it ever "solved" 
anything.  I agree that war was necessary during World War II.  And I also 
believe that it was necessary in WWI, although I am less certain of this 
because I know less about that war.  I would also argue that Soviet 
Communism was not one of the top three scourges of the 20th century 
(although Stalin might be) and, in any case, Soviet Communism was 
"defeated" economically, not militarily.

Regardless, Myth #6 contains a logical fallacy.  It says that if Nazi 
Germany was defeated militarily then Terrorism should be defeated 
militarily.  This would require Nazi Germany and Terrorism to be the same 
thing.  Which they aren't.  Nazi Germany was a nation-state with an 
established economy, a standing army, well defined-borders, and an invasion 
mind-set.  The terrorist groups we have thus far identified share none of 
those characteristics.  Very few are working on an international 
level.  Most are operating from wretchedly poor countries.  There is no 
easy way to define who "they" are.  I know who a German is, but I'm much 
harder pressed to say who a "terrorist" is.

I'm not really a pacifist.  I believe that war is sometimes necessary.  But 
just because something "worked" in the past doesn't mean that it is 
appropriate now.  Our goal should be to stop terrorism, not to wage and 
"win" a war.  Too many people assume that war is the best option left 
us.  Wars are a big part of all the US history books.  Kids have to 
memorize dates of Presidents and Wars.  So that's what we turn to when the 
shit hits the fan.  Presidents and Wars.  But the times, they are a 
changin'.  And it behooves us to start studying the other parts of history 
really quickly, otherwise we may be in for a bad ride.

Judah