Kurt Vonnegut alludes to the idea of the absurdity of war time and time again in his book, Slaughter House Five. When looking at the components of warfare, one is hard-pressed to say that the idea of killing others, for the end result of peace, is not absurd.Although this may be necessary in some cases, it still turns logical human reasoning on its head and seems to render many of the moral reasons for going to war as distant and lost objectives. This very idea is illustrated by Vonnegut.
But then, are there remnants of this idea still found today?
In short, yes.
I found a news article that highlights a modern day absurdity surrounding war. It seems as though the British government is questioning the legality of the Iraq War. This in itself is quite ridiculous to me. The legality of a war? A fine time to ask a question like that.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock and other government officials have been compiling information on the British involvement in the Iraq war. A few things seem to be quite certain: the Iraq war was not advocated by most of the British public; the U.S. heavily influenced British involvement; and the grounds for going to war (weapons of mass destruction and such) proved to be sufficient justification. The article states that “… he [Sir Jeremy] believed the US and UK had “established” its legality and that it had never been challenged in court.”
Of course there are many complicated issues that would go into determining the legality of a war, but this idea seems almost comical to me. It is a war. War encapsulates suffering, death, destruction, atrocities. It seems that determining legal issues surrounding a conflict should be done before troops are sent in. I won’t pretend like I understand the whole picture, because I don’t. However, a lot has been lost in the Iraq war and the notion that people and places affected by war can be cured and patched up is a tired one. It continues to be a cycle of build back up and tear back down. So much waste.
Vonnegut’s pessimism on the subject of humans and war seems to be warranted and his idea that war is absurd appears to be a timeless one.
Iraq war legitimacy ‘questionable’ says ex-diplomat
BBC News
November 27, 2009
