A Few Thoughts on War

My president held a brief press conference yesterday afternoon to update the public on the state of war. That is, the war he, along with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, has waged these past days against Iran.

During his presentation the president called the war an excursion. There is no way to tell how many people have died so far in this war. There is no way to calculate the destruction of infrastructure this war has caused--so far. There is no way to judge the toll on the world economy this war has taken. Or the ecological impact of the war.

I speak in the past tense. But this war is not over, although it seems my president is already weary of the 'excursion'. He said at one point in the press conference that the war was 'complete'.

In what universe does he operate? Is it a universe where people bend to his whims? Where he rarely hears the word 'no'? Where he is praised, for anything? For nothing?

Does he believe he can raise his hand and grandly say, "I've had enough, it's over"? He does not even remotely grasp the forces he has set in motion. He can see only his part of this conflict. His will.

My president is rather pampered, so it seems he expects that war, like everyone around him, will bend to that will.

When Donald Trump regards other people he apparently projects onto them his own motivation. The president is consistently described as 'transactional'. By that I believe people mean, for him, everything is a negotiation. It's a dynamic of What can I get, what can you get, what kind of deal can we make that profits both of us?

It apparently has not occurred to the president that Iranians may be willing to lose a great deal in order to protect their idea of sovereignty and their autonomy as a nation. For the Iranians, transaction may not be about any material thing the president can offer them.

So far, my country has lost seven soldiers to this war. Donald Trump assures that there will be more fatalities. It's pretty clear my country bombed a school and killed about 170 people, most of them children.

Anybody can start a war. It's pretty easy--just start bombing. Ending it...now that can be a bit of a challenge. This war has spread. It involves not only Israel, but also Lebanon and most of the Gulf region. It has gone beyond the Gulf region. Each one of the entities affected has a will, has its own idea of a just resolution.

And then there are all the other entities, those who feel profoundly wronged by the assassination of the Iranian's Supreme Leader. We see disquiet in Iraq, in Pakistan, in any country that has a significant Shia population.

And what about those so-called 'sleeper cells'? Cadres of actors who will, or want to, inflict terror across the world. Will these elements be motivated now to strike, to inflict more harm because of Donald Trump's 'excursion'?

I'm not an analyst. I'm just a woman who is watching world events and who has read about wars from time immemorial.

I remember WWI, which was suppose to last a few weeks. That war swallowed two empires, redrew the map of Europe and killed many millions. The war that was supposed to last weeks became known as the Great War.

If only my president knew more about history. If only more people said no to him, so that he could be comfortable with opposition. If only the enablers who surround him found courage, somewhere, somehow, to offer resistance.

I hope I'm wrong about the war. I hope the obvious is not true. I hope this war is different from all other wars, that it does not have a will of its own.

Even if I am wrong, though, what has the war cost us already? How much of our national treasure has been spent on Donald Trump's military adventure? How much good will have we lost? How will other nations deal with our increasingly mercurial leader? Where does this military episode us on the world stage?

As always, I end my blog with the wish that the U. S. war with Iran will end, and I wish for peace. May there be peace here, in my country, and everywhere.

The Collage
This was inspired, obviously, by ongoing events. I borrowed elements from Pixabay. I used GIMP to create some effects (fire, smoke, etc.). Anyone on Hive who feels moved to create a collage for this community, as I was moved this week, may do so at any time. The rules are provided on our prompt posts, like this one.

Elements Borrowed

Pixabay
Pexels
Field

Pixabay
Pexels
Boy

Pixabay
CarolineandtheSuperkids
Young child running

Pixabay
David Lang
Children Running

Pixabay
TheDigitalArtist
Bomb

Pixabay
War planes
Sunriseforever

Pixabay
Paratroopers
Defence-Images'