How peaceful is your city ! - War and peace .. fight between birds !!

How angry you are ? – and when was the last time you fought with someone ??  Not sure, how peaceful is your city – it is a measure of the composure of people – there are cities where people, scold, angrily shout and try to power their way, there are fisticuffs, pitched battles and more – at the drop of a hat !! We, humans have a tendency to fight with other groups, and many a times, within the same group too !! 

War is costly, deadly and destructive.  War is generally defined as violent conflict between states or nations. Nations go to war for a variety of reasons. It has been argued that a nation will go to war if the benefits of war are deemed to outweigh the disadvantages, and if there is a sense that there is not another mutually agreeable solution. More specifically, some have argued that wars are fought primarily for economic, religious, and political reasons. Others have claimed that most wars today are fought for ideological reasons. 

In our epics, there was clear directive that War must be just and for the common good but Western world is far different -  traced to the writings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, they  attempted to justify war, and reconcile it against  the religious  belief that taking a human life is wrong. 

There are International conflicts – somehow most Western media is loaded against Moscow.  Whether it is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear strikes or Chinese belligerence in the Taiwan Strait, the United States seems closer to a great power war than at any time in recent decades. But while the risks are real and the United States must prepare for each of these conflicts, by focusing on the times states fight—and ignoring the times they resolve their conflicts peacefully and prevent escalation—analysts and policymakers risk misjudging their  rivals and pursuing the wrong paths to peace. 

The fact is that fighting—at all levels from irregular warfare to large-scale combat operations—is ruinous and so nations should do their best to avoid open conflict. The costs of war also mean that when they do fight countries have powerful incentives not to escalate and expand those wars—to keep the fighting contained, especially when it could go nuclear.   

Even as rest of the World welcomed 2023, the warring Nations for sure could not do so.  This is not normal time in Russia or Ukraine !!  "Normal" disappeared 10 months ago when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  Ukraine says around 400 Russian soldiers have died in a missile attack on the occupied Donetsk region. Russian officials have contested the figure, admitting to only 63 of their troops being killed in the blast. Neither claim has been verified. The attack hit a building in the city of Makiivka, where Russian forces were thought to be stationed. Meanwhile in Kyiv, air raids sounded on Sunday night, as the latest wave of strikes from Russia continued. 

When Napoleon's army finally occupies an abandoned and burning Moscow, Pierre takes off on a quixotic mission to assassinate Napoleon. He becomes anonymous in all the chaos, shedding his responsibilities by wearing peasant clothes and shunning his duties and lifestyle. The only people he sees are Natasha and some of her family, as they depart Moscow. Natasha recognizes and smiles at him, and he in turn realizes the full scope of his love for her.  – that was fictional ‘War and peace’.  

The real pic was - on 24 June 1812 and the following days, the first wave of the multinational Grande Armée crossed the Niemen into Russia. Through a series of long forced marches, Napoleon pushed his army of almost half a million people rapidly through Western Russia, now Belarus, in an attempt to destroy the separated Russian armies of Barclay de Tolly and Pyotr Bagration who amounted to around 180,000–220,000 at this time.  Within six weeks, Napoleon lost half of the men because of the extreme weather conditions, disease and hunger, winning just the Battle of Smolensk.   

History is written that United Kingdom colonized almost the entire globe which made them say ‘Sun never sets in British Empire’ – their bloody history was conveniently hidden and presented as if they were global peace-makers.  Far away from truth. 

The Battle of Towton took place in  March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil”. Fought for ten hours between an estimated 50,000 soldiers in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, the Yorkist army achieved a decisive victory over their Lancastrian opponents. As a result, Edward IV deposed the Lancastrian Henry VI and secured the English throne. Henry VI succeeded his father Henry V at the age of one in 1422, but was a weak, ineffectual and mentally unsound ruler, which encouraged the nobles to scheme for control over him. The situation deteriorated in the 1450s into a civil war.  

History may teach us the real consequences of a battle provided we are willing to know and understand the implications .. .. here a Pigeon is seen attacking a Parakeet.  In life none will fight when they realize that life can be short and can end abruptly.

 
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
2.1.2023