- The more we make earnest attempts at comprehending the psychology of humankind, the more intriguingly complex our quest will turn into, simply because of our inherently untamed greed overtaking sensibilities/rationality/logical reasoning to be level-headed when it matters most. Yes, humanity has witnessed some unimaginably innovative developments from time to time, aiding our development to unprecedented levels. Just look around at the advancements humankind has achieved over millennia. While we are indebted to innumerable innovators having contributed immensely to the growth of humankind, one of the most visible areas of discontentment and/or gross inadequacy of it is our diabolical intention to cause harm to others by means of wars.
PC: SBS
- Humankind’s fatal embracing of one-upmanship/power-hungriness/urge to usurp others’ resources means adopting aggressive measures like waging wars against others. This human frailty to expand the reach to far and wide hasn’t stopped to this day, what with raging wars singeing the universe at several regions of late. Unfortunately, ordinary people are targets of war everywhere, even though the modern-day international laws forbade it 50 years ago. Come to think of it, if Earth formed 24 hours ago, humans would have been around for just 1 second. And in that second, the time we’ve been good to each other is so short, we’d need to measure it with an atomic clock. Ancient Romans thought nothing of burning down enemy cities and slaughtering whole lots.
PC: Al Jazeera
- Civilians – women, children, artisans, traders – were fair game as late as WW2, when Nazis blitzed London night after night. And let’s not forget, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrors inflicted entirely on civilians. For a while, it seemed WW2 had jolted our collective conscience. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 laid down dos and don’ts for the treatment of PoWs and civilians in occupied territories. Thirty years later, rules were written to protect civilians in active warzones. But after four years of war in Ukraine, and now the fourth week in Iran, it’s clear that these rules are observed only in the breach. Civilians in Kyiv, Mariupol, Tehran, Tel Aviv, are no safer in enemy hands than Carthaginians all those centuries ago. This is the saddest part. Have we learnt? No.
PC: Fox News
- In Ukraine, residential blocks are attacked with drones and missiles regularly. Russia allegedly took away 20000 Ukrainian children. It has knocked out Ukrainian power infra every winter, to make non-combatants suffer. In Gaza, 2mn people are displaced or homeless. Did they have a hand in the Oct 2023 Hamas attack in Israel? No, but they are collateral damage. So are a million Lebanese. Everywhere, in every war, civilians bear the brunt. Trump and Netanyahu’s excursion in Iran started with a mistaken missile strike on a girls’ school. Since then, Iran has picked soft targets across West Asia, in Dubai, Qatar, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan has killed hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan. The madness continues unabated. Sadly, collateral damage keeps rising.
