Effects of war

Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds, J. Robert Oppenheimer (after witnessing the Trinity atomic bomb test).

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones, Albert Einstein.

All wars are based on deception, wars are one of the evil roots, turning human beings into monsters, one of the most significant drivers of poverty in the world today.

What are the effects of wars?

1. Wars kill and injure both soldiers and civilians: World War II (1939-1945, approximately 60-85 million people died), Mongol conquests (1206–1324, 30-60 million people died), World War I (1914-1918, 16,5-40 million casualties), Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945, 20 million people died), etc.

2. Soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, hallucinations, nightmares, chronic headaches, etc., some of them end up committing suicide.

   “The rate of major depression is five times as high among soldiers as civilians; intermittent explosive disorder, which results in episodes of extreme anger, is six times as high; and post-traumatic stress disorder was nearly 15 times higher than among civilians, the study found,” cnn, Study: Rates of many mental disorders much higher in soldiers than in civilians, March 4, 2014. Veterans are more likely to be unemployed, homeless, and mentally ill than their civilian counterparts.

3. War rape. “Sexual violence haunts its victims long after the initial attack. Each act of rape humiliates its victims; emasculates men who are unable to protect them; and traumatizes victims, their families, and entire communities in times of war,” The Christian Science Monitor

   Rape is a cheap, simple weapon for all parties in the war, more easily obtainable than bullets or bombs. It is used as a weapon to terrorize individual women and girls, and also to terrorize their families and to terrorize entire communities, (Nzigire, Pamela Shifman).

4. Military use of children. Thousands of children serve as soldiers in armed conflicts around the world. They are forced into sexual slavery and used as fighters, couriers, spies, human shields, suicide bombers, domestic labourers (cooking, cleaning), etc.

5. Economic costs. “The US federal price tag for the post-9/11 wars is over $6.4 trillion dollars,” Cost of Wars. “World military spending rises to almost $2 trillion in 2020,” sipri. Military spending drains funds from critical social, educational, health care, and environmental needs.

6. Refugees. “82.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide at the end of 2020 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order,” The UN Refuge Agency.

   During conflicts many people flee from their homes and become refugees. They may not survive due to the lack of food, water, and shelter, they may be denied basic health care, suffer unemployment, economic hardship, and the loss of home and community. Many of them become victims of human trafficking, rape, and violence.

   

7. Wars also have environmental costs. “Wars destroy forests and wildlife. They contaminate the land, air and water. […] Bombs pollute, poisoning the land with unexploded shells and toxic chemicals. Bombs can’t locate or neatly destroy hidden chemical or biological weapons (CBW), but they can cause the uncontrolled spread of deadly CBW agents”, Environmentalists against war.