Wars vs. Conflicts
While both involve discord and struggle, most folks assume they know the difference. Research tell us that many describe a war as being big, bloody, and lasting for years, while conflicts are more like divorces, or he-said/she-said bickering.
Congress doesn’t like making formal declarations of war, so they have often resorted to the slightly less alarming word, even though it was made clear sixty years ago in the debacle called Vietnam, America’s goals were specifically political, territorial, and ideological. All three define what a war is, but conflict seemed to go down easier, at least for awhile.
What an utter crock. Another time when everyone lost, except for McDonnell Douglas, Dow Chemical, and Monsanto.
Conflicts can, presumably, be resolved through negotiation, mediation, or some other non-violent means. The way gentlemen solve things. Lay it all out, give and take, make your arguments in true Socratic fashion, abide by an unbiased third-party’s decision, and move on. Voila.
Our first Civil War (undeclared) erupted on April 12, 1891.
WWI erupted on July 28, 1918.
WWII erupted on September 1, 1939.
Korean War, excuse me, Conflict, erupted on June 25, 1950.
Vietnam erupted on November 1, 1955 with U.S. joining in June, 1965.
Mix in other military action, e.g. the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the statistics, both sad and horrifying, total more than 1.3 million American lives lost, with 620,000 during the Civil War alone. The brother-against-brother war.
Generals and journalists, preachers and politicians, have at one time or another described what was to be ‘the war to end all wars’. It’s been said many times, first about WWI. It was said with hope and idealism, and suggested that the devastation and scale of that war was so profound it would deter any and all other large-scale ‘conflicts.’
Irony and cynicism has long-since replaced hope and idealism.
And now we have another date to add to those where the expression ‘eruption’ seems apt.
July 1, 2025.
It’s called a ‘tax, spending, and policy bill’, but it’s also a declaration of war. Indeed, this one is closer to an actual Congressional Declaration than many battlefield wars.
And brother-against-brother has now grown to an entire generation of families irreparably splintered. It may not look like a battlefield, but it most assuredly is one.
It’s all captured in a convoluted, 940-page document that ushers in a new America.
One where Federal agents can snatch people off the street without explaining why. Where programs and services that keep people from suffering can be eliminated without debate. Where medical breakthroughs after decades of research can be dismantled. Where parks can be closed. Where volunteers can be told they cannot feed the homeless. Where division, easily as expansive as it was in 1861, is the order of the day, and to object is to risk your freedom.
Indeed, today Congress did openly declare war. The vote was close, but sanity lost, just as it did sixty years ago.
We won’t know casualty numbers for awhile, but they’ve already been piling up.