When Do Wars End?

[ThomWV]

It seems to me that wars end either when there is nothing left to destroy or when the aggressor has been exterminated. I don't think wars end by agreement (treaty), quite to the contrary, I think wars are always extended when agreement causes them to pause. Of course war can be seen as a struggle for resources, in which case one must end when the resource is no longer available, it has been taken, or the resource is defended so as to be unassailable.

So how will the war in Iraq end? Of the options above the only one that seems to fit is 'when there is nothing left to destroy'.

[treestar]

1. When there's no more oil

[genie_weenie]

9. Ah, almost! Oil is good but this will end

when there is no more money to be taken from the American people. Even if the oil runs out, there is money to be made in "security". The Masters of War will continue this travesty as long as they can...

[NightWatcher]

2. when there's no more war proftiteering

When companies like Blackwater, Halliburton, Carlyle, and the other war mongers no longer make a killing from the deaths of our troops, they will stop paying bush to start, and maintain, war.

[The2ndWheel]

3. War ends when diversity is destroyed

America wouldn't exist with real diversity. No country, state, or empire would ever exist with actual diversity. Not the different color people working in the same corporate office diversity. That actually is the corporation showing that it has won.

But wars never really end. The results of the previous war end up being the beginnings of the next war. The Cold War doesn't happen without WWII. You can probably trace back every war like that, including the current one in Iraq.

If you need an end to war though, it's when diversity is killed.

[NNN0LHI]

4. War ends when the leader from one side or the other side sues for peace

Bush had Saddam hanged so his supporters will never stop killing Americans. Even long after Bush leaves office this will be the case.

Unfortunate, but true as hell.

Don

[KG]

5. when poor folk stop singing up to fight them.

[porphyrian]

6. War is a plague of destruction. It ends as all plagues do. - n/t

[HamdenRice]

7. Sorry to disagree, but the opposite is true

Historically, wars have been a continuation of politics. Governments and their leaders want other governments or their leaders to do things or not do things. When talking about such things fails, governments have used force to coerce other governments -- usually in the form of one government's armed forces fighting the other government's armed forces. Typically, limited amounts of coercion are required to force governments to comply. The political agreement that ends a political war is typically in the form of a treaty.

The Napoleonic Wars, the US Civil War, the First World War and World War II, however, introduced and maintained the idea of total war -- wars in which all of a society's resources are harnessed to carry out a war, and in which, in turn, all of a society's resources are considered legitimate targets. Total wars have led to the near complete destruction of one side or the other's infracture, population, and industry.

Limited wars have continued during the epoch of total war, however, and there have been innumerable limited wars in the last two centuries.

If your question is about Iraq, it seems to me that as horrible as that war is, so far it is still a limited war. This war hopefully will end with the factions in Iraq beginning to negotiate what they want, politically. Perhaps the US will participate; perhaps the US won't be involved and Iraq's neighbors will instead be the interlocutors of the Iraqi factions.

The only rational way to end the current Iraq war is through negotiations, a political settlement and a treaty.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. "You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake".- Jeannette Rankin

[mwb970]

10. The Iraq War is over, now it's an occupation.

In a war you have an enemy and can talk about "victory", "defeat", and "surrender". In an occupation you really only have "stay" or "leave". It's not a win-lose situation.