Absurd wars, defined by absurd words

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/04/2022 (1398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RECENTLY United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the invasion of Ukraine “an absurd war,” which appears on many levels to be a literal truth. However, the word absurd, or senseless, which also translates as silly and ridiculous, does not seem sufficient to capture the immorality, the brutality and the evil of this unjustified invasion.

Free Press reporter Ben Waldman in “Art of War” (April 6) presents a more accurate picture illustrated by the work of Bistyek: “It is a product and a producer of evil. War is a violation of life.” To be unequivocal, all wars are absurd on a human level, as are the actions and rhetoric used to justify, support and rationalize them. The Ukraine invasion just our latest experience.

Economically, wars make no sense — or, at the very least, imply misplaced human priorities. In a world in which people are starving and lacking clean water, and where children and young people are denied childhoods and education, and where greenhous- gas emissions are threatening our environment, building and buying, selling and deploying weaponry at exorbitant prices just seems immoral.

The global arms trade is an economy built on fear and threat, and fueled by waste and destruction, a dubious basis for human advancement. We in Canada are contemplating the purchase of 88 F-35 jets at a price of $19 billion, or about $216 million apiece. These planes can cost up to $50,000 per hour to fly, hundreds of thousands annually to maintain, meanwhile contributing significantly to GHG emissions.

While less expensive, the scores of Russian jets shot down to date represent billions of dollars which could have been used to improve the lot of millions of Russians. The cost of a tank is $6 million, a cruise missile is $2 million, an aircraft carrier $13 billion and a submarine $3 billion.

These costs do not even include the costs of rebuilding homes and businesses; and replacing infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, water and sewer services, roads, bridges, power and transportation networks, and re-locating and re-employing those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.

By comparison, in 2017 the Canadian Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated the cost of ensuring clean water to Indigenous communities at $3.2 billion, approximately one-sixth of the cost of the planes. The cost of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was $70 million, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was $100 million, and compensation payments for residential-school survivors $2 billion.

To end world hunger by 2030, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (2016) and taking into account birth rates, wars, climate and environmental projections, $11 billion annually would be required. Of the $11 billion, $7 billion would be provided by the poor countries themselves, leaving $4 billion for foreign public aid. In other words, Canada could fund five years by itself with the cost of the contemplated jet purchase.

In the same vein, by my calculations (and allowing for inflation), the cost of one F-35 amounts to 13 years of public education for 10,000 children in Canada, and for many times more in other parts of the world.

On a human and humanitarian level, war make even less sense. Thousands of people are killed in wars, and the indirect tolls of war extend way beyond the end of wars and last for generations. War injuries and resultant disease, poverty, famines, forced displacement and family separation are among the consequences of armed conflicts, along with loss of the rights and privileges of citizenship.

We, of course, do not possess the vocabulary to adequately capture the revolting evil, malicious immorality and disgusting criminality of this most recent war. However, we might start, like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, by being brutally honest regarding the rhetoric which accompanies and validates it.

Ostensibly, wars are governed by international humanitarian laws, which stress humanity, saving lives and reducing suffering. Similarly, it is illegal to target civilians, medical personnel and injured soldiers, and to torture prisoners. Crimes against humanity include using bacteriological or chemical agents; to murder, enslave, deport, rape and murder. Seriously, are these rules which will be followed in wars?

Diplomacy, it seems, demands indulging liars and warmongers who object to sanctions and counterattacks, and blame others for the suffering of their country’s citizens, meanwhile claiming victimhood. And we can’t call them war criminals or terrorists, the most accurate description of their activities.

In a globalized world, we are all implicated somewhat in what our fellow humans’ experiences. The least we can do is call war a violation of life – and insist that the UN treat it like it is.

John R. Wiens is dean emeritus at the faculty of education, University of Manitoba. A lifelong educator, he has served as a teacher, counsellor, work education co-ordinator, principal, school superintendent and university professor.