Previous perspectives

By Members of Olive Branch

What on earth is happening to the world?

The most recent war in Libya is drawing to a close, but we can expect to see the effects of war – destruction, injuries, mourning of the dead, terror and nightmares from six months of daily bombing, refugees returning or not returning, doubts over a provisional government that may or may not include everyone, and the disaster to the environment. While the war lasted only six months, the return to normalcy will take years.

Some people will continue to justify the rockets, rounds of ammunition, bombing runs that killed civilians, and carbon emissions expelled into the atmosphere. But it also should be remembered that the decision to attack the Qaddafi government was made by a small group of people. That decision was made by 10 members of the United Nations Security Council based on their

interpretation of Resolution 1973 that called for “all necessary measures to protect civilians.” No one asked Libyan people if they wanted a war, whether they wanted a regime change, and if so, how. Nor did the other 180 countries of the world agree.

In Iraq, the war goes on. Terrorists strike every day. No one is safe, even with the abundance of foreign and national soldiers there to protect the population and keep the order. After 10 years, Afghanistan’s war has not wound down, even though the initial object of the war, Osama bin Laden, has been dead for several months. The Taliban, supposedly an easily conquered enemy, is able to attack at their choosing.

Both the Taliban and United States bombers target Pakistan, which is not at war with anybody. Meanwhile, Pakistanis are killed and maimed. Homes are destroyed. Life disrupted. Fear reigns.

Somalia, Syria, Nigeria and Thailand are also involved in conflicts that have destroyed people’s lives and forced them to emigrate, straining the resources of other countries and the world at large. The so-called “drug wars” spreading from Mexico and Colombia to the rest of Central America pit armed forces against each other. Even in “unarmed” Costa Rica, a flood of arms and military-style police work has turned a social problem into a war.

Targeting crop cultivation results in food scarcities and higher prices. Rivers run contaminated from the detritus of the war and lack of normal care. Schools close, businesses go elsewhere. Health services are overwhelmed with the injured – that’s what war does!

Environmental damage is never considered when the shooting starts. We are facing a major crisis with climate change, desertification, rising sea levels, and contamination of the air, water and land. The destructiveness of war adds much more to the contamination of the Earth than all of us planting trees and recycling trash can ameliorate. All the oil used to power the planes, not just the bombers and the drones, but also those used to supply and transport troops, is a drain on oil reserves and adds pollution to the atmosphere. Tanks, trucks, weapons and military supplies take an environmental and human toll.

In the Balkans, the job of cleaning up after the wars continues. Contamination from depleted uranium, a radioactive material that causes cancer, leukemia, birth defects and other health problems for soldiers and civilians, will take generations to clean up, if ever. The effects of DU, which also was used in Iraq, create hazards long after the wars end, much as landmines planted in the wars of the 1980s continued to kill and maim, and required dangerous and costly measures to eradicate them.

Yet nobody wants to question the real purpose of war. Who approved these wars? Who voted for them? Which national parliament or plebiscite gave the go-ahead? And the biggest question of all, who supplies all the weapons? Who sold weapons to Libya? Belgium, France, Italy and the United States – the same countries that comprise NATO, which saturated the country with bombing sorties against the same weapons they sold.

More than ₡830 million in military sales and transfers from the European Union flowed to Libya while the United States sent $40 billion in military equipment to Egypt and Libya – material that NATO forces sought to destroy. And nobody is sure of what a new government will bring. Will anyone loyal to the old regime be included, or will they be slaughtered or imprisoned? After the war that was waged by men, will women be included in the building and governing process as equal partners?

Now, more than ever, the world needs cooperation and resources to master climate change and oceanic contamination, to feed and house the millions stranded by natural and man-made disasters, and to bring those on the margins of society into the electronic age through education and infrastructure. The military mentality of all countries must adjust to human mentality. Governments must adjust their priorities. The world depends on it.

Olive Branch is a collective name for the Heredia group of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Contact us through peacewomen@gmail.com.