World History Blog: The Modern 21st Century war

War. a just war? Those two words don't seem to go together. Even though a dictator may have committed terrible crimes against people, the number of people who die overall in a war is much greater. I don't think killing groups of innocent people to get at the few mass murders is right.

I do believe there can be a war of liberation for another people group. It happens all the time. Afghanistan was an example of this. We fought for the women and children who were being put down. If a women was a widow and had no men relations she was still not allowed to work. This caused starvation and problems for them.

There are many reasons why a government would want to go to war. One reason is the spread of a certain type of government. Another would be crimes against the people and governments wanting to help end the people's suffering. Governments might also want war because of the gain of land, power, and money. Governments may also want to stay out of a war is cost. Wars cost both money and lives. Governments may also stay out of wars because their people do not support the cause.

The media can really have a strong influence to encourage the war and sway the public's opinion of a war. President Bush received several messages that Iraq didn't have any mass nuclear weapons, while he also got two reports completely opposite saying they did. While he and his yes men were pondering which to believe, the Wall Street Journal caught wind of it and publicized that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Making that their scrape goat, Bush decided to believe that they did have those weapons, even though none were ever found.

There are a few people who benefit from a war. Some companies will have military contracts so they will benefit. Sometimes the people who are oppressed and are the victims get liberation and more freedoms from a war. There are also many losses from war, lives, money, ways of life in general.

In the Iraq war our president Obama replied that "We won!" But did we really? After so many lives, the cost of the war, and ending up just withdrawing, it doesn't seem like a very good victory. Obama made the promise that if he was elected president, he would end the war, a promise he kept.

The average citizen, besides watching the news and the internet, basically ignores if we are at war or not. Unless a direct family member is fighting in the war, most people don't care because the war isn't directly bothering them. Pretty selfish if you think about it.

Today, people gather their intelligence by people, social media and the interwebs. But my understanding of war is limited because I'm not directly impacted by it so I can't really tell you what it's like.

President Obama, America's first black president.