Dave’s Rants

Gavin’s Blog is after picking up this good article from the Guardian.

Simon Tisdall in the Guardian writes about the history of war, from the perspective of the US, and argues that war is always the first resort - never the last. He lists the litany of conflicts that have involved the US. This is an excellent article.

America has been fighting wars all our lifetimes, from Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf to Serbia, Afghanistan and now, again, in Iraq. Its wars have flared hot and brief, as in Libya in 1986, Panama in 1989, and Somalia in 1992. They have run cold and long, as in its 40-year global confrontation with the Soviet Union. They have been fought by proxy, as in Angola and Mozambique, or behind the scenes as in Lebanon and Cambodia. They have been waged covertly as in Chile and Cuba, Nicaragua and El Salvador; or by invitation, as in the current Colombian “war on drugs” and the Philippines leg of the “war on terror”……..

Brilliantly and with great insight Tisdall says:

The US march on Iraq is merely the latest, sick manifestation of a world that for all its supposed modernity, remains addicted to war. Humankind’s self-destructive, self-interested apocalyptic urge is the real, abiding enemy within. Beware that old Armageddon buzz. It’s the thrill that kills.