The Worth of War

A few weeks after Journalist Bob Woodruff received his co-anchorship on ABC Nightly News, an IED (Iraqi bomb) blasted him down, near Taji, Iraq. The military returned the comatose reporter stateside within hours--a modern miracle despite his shrapnel-shredded brain.

Asleep for 36 days, Woodruff finally came awake and 2 ½ years later he is back reporting--minus his anchor job. His journey led him through lengthy rehab that would have proved fatal prior to the Iraq War. It was a little tough on his family, but Medical Science has grown by miracle-miles, especially with new developments continually expanding under military emergencies.

This latest war has brought us a long ways! It has dramatically improved our ability to treat, amputees and debilitating physical injuries. It has especially improved our skills in treating traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Chalk up another military conquest!

Some years ago, a family member sent me a book for a Christmas gift. That book amazed me with its wealth of scientific information, especially as related to World War Two and Space Development. One of the dramatic improvements that we now take for granted, came from the development of radar during the war (as I remember)--developed under war conditions but what a huge benefit to society and warning of tornadoes.

Many such improvements have enriched and improved our lives, in all areas. These are direct and indirect benefits from times of war. The Iraq War not only contributed to improving our prosthestheses and TBI, but military contractors have benefited from huge profits that trickle down from the top, in some way helping everyone better achieve our American dream.

Add multitudes of military contractors, soldiers for sale, and numerous other defense jobs and you see how much war really stimulates the national economy and raises the standard of living. You readily see how the Cold War helped protect peaceful conditions and allowed us to live from the fat of decades of Defense Contracts and a huge military establishment--great economic stimulus package!

Now, we have finely-tuned our military system, made war a science. We have a highly skilled, technically trained fighting force that is able to make precision strikes, assisted by sophisticated technology that prevents the slaughter of hand-to-hand combat. As it now stands, American highway accidents kill more travelers in one year than we lost in more than 5 ½ years of occupying Iraq.

Most of all, many of our religious community--the moral conscience of our nation--have resolved the centuries-old ethical problem of war by developing the “just war” theory. We can now be faithful to our religious community, be patriotic, and put our lapel flags back on. All we have to do is believe in “just war.”

With our dilemma now resolved, no one need be called unpatriotic for dissenting with our international diplomacy. For these several reasons, we can throw away our guilty feelings, questions, and other conscience constrictors and heartily endorse war. We can now view war as necessary to our economy, highly profitable for some, and justifiable under any circumstance.
Wayne