Weapons of War

I have been thinking today about what the current situation in the world would be if outside states did not provide weapons and money to warring countries. No NATO money and weapons in the Ukraine; no USA giving billions of dollars of support to Israel. It tends to be a conservative position, I know – keep our money for our people – but I mean this strictly in the case of supporting war. I am more than happy to provide funds for food, medical care and rebuilding. Just not helping people in one country to kill those in another.

The war in Ukraine, for example, would be over by now. Lost to Russia? Almost certainly. And that could undoubtedly pose its own issues, but it would be over. Without outside assistance, Ukraine had no chance of defending themselves against Putin’s army. But bombs would not currently be flying, and people on both sides would not be suffering the consequences.

The war in Gaza likely never would have started; without massive ongoing aid from the US, Israel would have had to agree to a two-state solution years ago, at the time of one of their previous wars, and Palestine would not be an occupied territory. There would be no need for Hamas, and so it would not exist. The attack of October 7 would not have happened, and everything since would be only a bad dream.

Israel would probably have less land than they do today, and would certainly be less powerful, but Palestine would have more of everything, and thousands of people – many of them children - who have been killed, mutilated or traumatized would be fine and healthy. People on both sides.

Things might not have turned out the way everyone would like them in these situations, but then, they rarely do anyway. And think how many lives would have been saved. Now multiply that by all of the recent wars that allies have “helped” each other out in by providing them with weapons and money to buy weapons. Is this the kind of help we really want to give?