Posted by
JDComments on Thursday, January 25, 2007 12:04:06 PM
In our quest for "humane" warfare, the military is now
testing a "ray "gun that causes its target to feel hot, but not actually be hurt. Added to the technology which allows surgical strikes, pretty soon armed conflict will be just slightly more dangerous than a paintball match- and that is the problem.
As we continue to delethalize war, what we are actually doing is disarming and incapacitating our ability to defend ourselves, for war without the threat of death and destruction is impotent, as we are finding out in Iraq.
To see this, we must understand what war is- another form the battle of wills takes. In negotiations, that battle is decided by compromise. In war, it is resolved by the imposition of the victor's will.
To achieve that, the other side's determination must be broken, and the threat of being killed is the predominant way this is achieved. Even the destruction of property is not alone sufficient to bring about victory, as the failure of the London Blitz proved. Only the very real possibility and actuality of death achieves this.
As proof, just look at what the daily body bag count from Iraq has done to the American spirit. Does anyone believe if no one was dying over there that the animus against the war would be so extreme?
And there is the irony- as our enemy seeks to kill more and more people, knowing the effect this has, we try to limit the damage we do with the result that the greatest military force in the world is proving ineffective in subduing a ragtag group of miscreants.
Our humanity , which we take such pride in, is actually our Achilles' heel, stopping us from perfroming in the way we should to achieve our aims in Iraq. The failure to kill, and even to truly threaten, the enemy with death is perceived as weakness, and extends the conflict indefinitely. Thus our striving for the humane actually leads to prolong suffering, and more casualties for our side.
So when I read about harmless ray guns and the like, I don't have visions of Buck Rogers in my head, or images of peacefully defeating enemy combatants. What I see is our foes laughing at us as they realize we are not trying to harm them, while they are doing their best to slaughter us.
And that is not war, but suicide for us.