The Ethics of War and Peace - Essay Example

College Ethics of War Human race have been fighting since the ancient times. War has been the most destructive and horrifyingactivity to the human lives. There is no other venue in earth where human race can be killed in a very large number than in the field of war. War causes widespread suffering that takes a lot of time to heal. War does not start suddenly, it is planned first, but it can last for the longest time possible. Its effects can take centuries to be healed. People say that war is awful, but why do they still allow it to happen? Some people like war. They believe that war can change their lives only to realize that it caused them more harm than they had thought. Those who win always get power over the losers. They also get wealth and resources. They make laws to govern the territory. Many people have been asking themselves very many questions about war. These questions may include: is ethical to go to war? When is the right time to start war? Is it right to revenge against those wrong us? Is it ethical to interfere with other states affairs? Anyone who thinks about war must put in consideration what is right and wrong. Anything happening in war is either considered right or wrong depending on the people affected. Those who are the cause of war take every action to be right because it favors their interests. The other victims take the action to be wrong because it affects them negatively. Therefore, war has both positive and negative effects in the human population. War is a brutal activity but it is still the centre of human history and the changes in social lives. It is because of war that some countries have changed in their economy and the way of live. During the time of war, life becomes hard for weak population (Coates, 2006). The weak people in the society are always the victims of war. In “Sirens of Bagdad”, Bedouin family is very poor. They live in a village in the Iraqi desert called Kafr Karam. Bedouin is a young man who is determined to be a more educated man than his father who never went to school. He goes to university of Bagdad but his education is cut short by invasion of Americans in the area. The university is destroyed and later closed making him go back home. Therefore, war kills his ambition of being a good person with a well paying job after the university. His dreams are crushed completely making him see no reason to live. This is how war can affect lives of the innocent people in the society (Khadra, 2007). War is always a very bad thing that can happen in the society. It compromises no one including the one who causes it. War abuses the human rights. Many people are killed, displaced from their homes while others lose their properties. This is against the human rights. War is way of governing using force instead of using peaceful measures of resolving policies. Some people in the government use their power to control what should be going on in a certain territory. They do not care how commands are going to affect the lives of people living in that territory. Lives of these people are going to be affected greatly. Bedouin, in “Sirens of Bagdad”, was affected by war caused by the Americans in Bagdad. It made him lose hope in life. It is because of war that he is forced to drop his education since the university he was studying in closed. War also follows him back to his village. He feels so embarrassed when he sees his father half-naked after being raided by the American soldiers. The way he felt was really touching. He says, “And beyond it, there was nothing but an infinite void, an interminable void, nothingness.” He says that he is forced to see his father’s genitals. What life is he going through? War has ruined his education and now it follows him home where he sees his weak father pulled around by war soldiers. All these actions changed him into a very angry man ready for vengeance (Khadra, 2007). Sometimes it is right to wage war. This especially is when a country has to protect her citizens from any terrorist attack. Every country should always be ready for it because terrorist attacks are very dangerous and inhuman. Those who threaten the peace of a country should be dealt with accordingly. This is considered as just war. It is always supported by the public and the national leaders. Some people are opposed to war and they cannot agree to the fact that there are just wars. They see war as a very bad thing to the human beings. It is a fact that war is not good but we cannot evade it because it will always be near us as long as we are still living in this world. This is clearly shown by those people who are building more dangerous weapons like nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. These are the people who anticipate for war. They make these weapons to ensure that they will be safe in case of any war. Some countries start war with other nations just to revenge the bad things that were done to them in the past (Rodin, 2006). They think that the way they can heal their wounds is by retaliating. After Bedouin has gone through hard times, he decides that the only way he is going to heal is by revenging what has been done to him. He joins a group that is planning terrorist operation that is going to take place in London. This group is about the suicide bombers and he is going to be among them. He is ready to do that with no fear. His decision is only for revenge but it is not going to end war (Khadra, 2007). For war to be just, there are rules which must be followed before fighting. Fighting must start with a reason that is going to be supported by the entire people of the public. It must have a goal to be attained after winning and not just for revenge. War can be considered unjust depending on how fighting is going to be done. Before starting any war, one must know the target, weapons to used, reasons for the war. Just war should not affect the innocent civilians in any way. It should only target the terror group. Force to be applied during the fight should always be appropriate. It should depend on the target and its strength. It is not advisable to use too much force against a weak target. Weapons to be used should also be appropriate. Weapons such as nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been banned by the international community because they are considered extremely evil. These are the weapons which do not choose who to affect but they cause great harm to all people living in the area where it is applied. Weapon to be used depends on the target. Machine gun and flame-throwers cannot be used to kill a target that is armed with a knife. This will not be appropriate. When a target surrenders, he should not be killed but captured alive for interrogation. War is always associated with evil actions like rape and genocide. The international community has put measures to counter all these. Therefore, just war must have genuine reason for it to take place (Rodin, 2006). However, at times there is justifiable reason to fight a certain terror group so long as all the rules are followed. War should not be used as a tool to gain wealth neither should it be used to revenge. War is a bad thing but it will always be with us. War can only be ethical if all the rules are adhered to. It will determine how destiny in earth. Work cited Coates, A J. The Ethics of War. Manchester, U.K: Manchester University Press, 1997. Print. Rodin, David. The Ethics of War. Malden, Mass: Blackwell, 2006. Print. Nardin, Terry. The Ethics of War and Peace: Religious and Secular Perspectives. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1996. Print. Kamal, ud-Din K. Ethics of War. Woking: Woking Muslim Mission and Literary Trust, 1900. Print. Khadra, Yasmina, and John Cullen. The Sirens of Baghdad: A Novel. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2007. Print. Read More