War weary

Wars are very wearying. My closest experience was in WWII which lasted for six years. As a child, it had its elements of excitement as well as its deprivations. Being prematurely responsible, because of the absence of my parents, it was a great opportunity to learn. But for all that, it was wearying. Repetitive loss of people we knew, persistent bombing night after night, tired and grumpy adults coping with day jobs followed by nighttime fire-watching - not to mention austerity everywhere. It was wearying.

A VI Flying Bomb of 1944 made the point vividly. Chugging slowly through the sky like an aging athlete gasping for breath, it would suddenly cut its engine, as if finally exhausted. That’s when you dived into the ditch and, unless you got a direct hit, avoided death or wound. Repeated ditch diving became tedious for people. But the final straw was the VII, the rocket. Without warning, from out of the blue, the VII was powerfully destructive. It was said that if the Germans could keep the VII bombing up for a few months they would conquer Britain. But Germans were war weary, too, by then - and Brits were war exhausted.?

The world is getting war weary today. Deprivations arising from supply chain disruption, huge sums of money being needed to pay for increasingly expensive armaments, oppressive tragedy with continuous reporting of innocents suffering, all make for a gargantuan wish for peace. The spread of depression and mental illness, often attributed to the rough reporting of wars, is putting pressure on doctors clinics, special needs resources, hospitals and medical staff. Mentors and coaches also deal with it with growing concern.

Increasingly today’s soldiers will only fight if they believe they need to. The rallying calls of their populist politicians are starting to fall on deaf ears. Cynicism about the purpose of war, the interests of the armaments business, Wall Street and other financial reflections of ‘success’ is rampant. Not just weary of war but of the causes of war and of the beneficiaries of war. I am not a pacifist. Those attacked must defend. If freedom was won by jaw-jaw the United Nations would have stopped all wars. For all that, war is wearying.?

In the end, war comes to an end. The cost of rebuilding the habitats and infrastructure of the victims of the current wars will be preposterous. It will take so long that voters will blame the current government, whatever the government. The political fallout from that will be anarchy. Longer wars bring greater risk of subsequent chaos. Our wars must be stopped.

The average person doesn’t want war, it’s the mob that incites it. To handle the mass of people we have to be well meaning and strong. The only way to approach that is with compulsory mediation before an act of war. If the UN could enforce its charter on everyone to accept that - not so very different from a nuclear agreement - it could engage the resources of the majority of nations to enforce it.

Good mediators are not found easily. A basically non-corrupt, disciplined state with a widely diverse population of around five million would be the most likely best mediator.

And, since you mention it, yes, I do know of such a State. It’s the one I live in.

Good morning from Singapore

John Bittleston

Mediation is something we should be taught in childhood - but seldom are. Were you?

We’d love to hear your thoughts about your mediation skills at [email protected].?