BY SRH
Because the present rates of gasoline and ammunition exceed the Ministry of Defence’s day-to-day budget, the British Army has been instructed to halt most “non-essential” collective training for UK-based troops on standby, including live-fire exercises, armor, and Apache drills.
Only a sliver of units are deployed. The surface fleet has shrunk from nearly 50 fighting vessels two decades ago to around 22. Defence spending rises on paper are eaten by inflation. Welfare spending is up 16 per cent in five years. The military is told not to raid health or education to fill a hole of roughly £1.4 billion a year.
There aren’t many units out in the field. About 22 ships are now in the surface fleet, down from about 50 fighting ships 20 years ago. When defense spending goes up on paper, inflation eats it up. In the past five years, spending on welfare has gone up by 16%. To make up about £1.4 billion a year in cuts, the military is told not to go after health or education.
If a nation can’t afford to train its tanks, it can’t be considered “war-ready.” Another indicator of a state’s lack of commitment to unity is its policy of encouraging mass settlement and the subsequent welfare burden on families by instructing them to purchase their own water. This is what Sir Richard wants: “different choices and different priorities.” The options keep falling on empty cans rather than borders, emigration, or a fighting force.
“The UK is also largely disarmed and, most importantly, mentally,” said strategic studies professor Andrew Michta, who told the BBC that the underlying issue is more psychological than physical. No one is prepared for what’s happening because powerful politicians aren’t telling the truth to their constituents about how serious the problem is.
Moscow will be the center of gravity. They helped dismantle a society and then instructed its members to prepare for the worst, but they will not reveal the name of the gravity. Alterations to the War Book are possible. The cover narrative is entirely self-evident.
Everyone should have their homes ready to be cut off from water, electricity, and the internet. Water, non-perishable food, necessary medications, a first aid kit, a flashlight, an extra battery pack, a power bank, and a wind-up or battery-operated radio are the items listed on the simple Cabinet Office checklist.
According to an official who spoke with the Financial Times, the campaign will not involve “duck and cover.” Things like stocking up on bottled water and canned goods are examples of the kind of practical advice that will be provided to help strengthen domestic resilience. It won’t be alarmist, but basic sense.
Side Bar:
A lot of the time, people start wars because of religion. So, what do important books in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism say about why war is right?
We asked three experts what they thought.
The Bible
Robert J. Whitaker, Divinity School
The Bible says that war is an unavoidable part of life. This is summed up in Ecclesiastes’ cry of the Teacher:
There is a time for everything, including war and peace.
In this way, the Bible shows how the people who wrote it and lived in the communities that did so over more than a thousand years of victory and defeat as a small country in the midst of big empires in the ancient Near East.
When we think about God’s part in war, we can’t avoid the violent ideas that come with the divine. There are times when God tells the Hebrew people to go to war and do horrible things. God’s people are sent to war with the priest’s blessing, but they are told to first try to make peace. This is shown in Deuteronomy 20. The town is forced to work for peace if the rules are accepted. But it is decided that some enemies should be completely destroyed, and the Hebrew army is told to kill everything that doesn’t grow food.
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Sometimes, war is seen as a tool, a punishment that God uses against the Hebrew people because they have turned away from him (Judges 2:14). Furthermore, there is a moral reason to be fair to war prisoners. In Deuteronomy 21, Moses says that women taken in battle should be treated as wives, not as slaves. In 2 Chronicles, it says that captives can go home.
Instead of seeing war as okay with God, many of the Hebrew prophets look forward to a time when God will bring peace and people will “neither learn war any more” (Micah 3:4). Instead, they will use their weapons to help them farm (Isaiah 2:4).
People think that war happens because people are sinful, and that God will eventually turn that sin into peace. Peace, which comes from the Hebrew word shalom, is more than just not having war. It’s about people doing well and God bringing all people together.
Christians believe that war happens because people are evil and that God will change that into peace. I’m Joe Castro/AAP
The New Testament was mostly written in the first century CE, when Jews and new Christians were still a small part of the Roman Empire. Resistance writings, like the Book of Revelation, say that Rome’s military power is evil and harsh. A lot of early Christians didn’t want to fight in the Roman army.
In this situation, Jesus doesn’t say anything specific about war, but he does say that killing is wrong in general. Jesus tells Peter to put down his sword when he tries to defend himself with it, saying that a sword only makes things worse (Matthew 26:52). This fits with what Jesus said, like “blessed are the peacemakers” or “love your enemies” or “turn the other cheek” when you are hit.
The truth is that the Bible contains many different ideas about war. You can find a reason for war in the Bible if you want to. There is also a reason for peace or tolerance if you want to find one. Later, Christians would use biblical ideas to come up with ideas of “just war” and peace, but these ideas are not directly found in the Bible.
For Christians, Jesus’ teachings give us a moral way to look at older war texts through the lens of loving our enemies. This contrast to God’s violence and war brings readers back to the prophets, whose visions of a world without violence and suffering and where peace is possible are full of hope.
The Quran
Mehmet Ozalp, University of Charles Sturt
In the seventh century, when Islam and Muslims first came to the world’s attention, things were not friendly. In reaction to big problems, like war, Islam made groundbreaking changes to the law and morals. The Quran and the actions of the Prophet Muhammad made it clear what was right and wrong in war, long before other societies came up with similar rules.
Islam did this by coming up with a new word for war, “jihad,” instead of the usual “harb.” Harb is a general word for war, while jihad in Islamic beliefs means a legal and morally righteous fight, which can include war but is not limited to it. When talking about war, jihad only means fighting for a good cause while following clear moral and legal rules. It does not mean fighting in an aggressive or hostile way.
Between 610 and 622, Prophet Muhammad practiced active nonviolence even though he and his followers were constantly being hurt, persecuted, and denied access to money in Mecca. This was true even though his followers kept trying to get him to take up arms. This proved that violent conflict between people from the same society is not possible because it would result in chaos.
The Quran stresses that war and any reaction to violence and aggression must be fair and reasonable. Steven Saphore/AP
He started a society with people of all faiths in Medina after leaving his home town to avoid being persecuted. It was important to him to make deals with nearby groups through treaties. Even though they were trying to be peaceful and diplomatic, the Meccans and other hostile groups attacked the Muslims in Medina. It was necessary to fight these attackers with weapons.
Muslims were told they could fight in verses 22:39–40 of the Quran.
It is okay for believers who have been wronged to fight back because they have been mistreated. God must have all the power to help them win. It’s not fair that people have been forced to leave their home country just because they say “Our Lord is God.”
This passage not only allows armed conflict, but it also gives a moral reason for “just war.” That is, it is clear that war is right when it is defensive, but it is wrong and criticized when it is offensive. In other places, the Quran makes this point clear:
As long as they stay away from you, don’t fight, and offer you peace, God won’t let you go to war with them.
In verse 22:39, two moral reasons are given for going to war. That is, when people are forced to leave their homes and land, or when a foreign power takes them over. In the second case, people are attacked because of their beliefs, even to the point of being locked up and raped.
It’s important to note that line 22:40 talks about churches, monasteries, and synagogues. All places of worship would be destroyed if people who believe in God don’t defend themselves. This must be stopped by force if necessary.
Since “God loves not the aggressors,” the Quran does not support violence. It also spells out in detail who must fight and who must not (9:91), when fighting must end (2:193), and how prisoners should be treated fairly and with compassion (47:4).
Verses like 2:294 stress that war and any reaction to violence and aggression must be fair and within the rules:
If someone attacks you, you should hit them in the same way they attacked you. Still, have fear of God and stay within the rules.
If there is no way to avoid war, every chance to end it must be taken:
Nevertheless, if the enemy wants peace, you should also want peace and trust God.
The goal of military activity is not to humiliate or kill the enemy, but to end the fighting and take away the reason for it.
You can’t use military jihad for personal gain or to fuel nationalist or racial tensions. Muslims can’t go to war with countries that don’t want to fight them (60:8). Muslims have the right to defend themselves, though, if they are openly attacked and hated.
The Prophet and the first caliphs told military leaders and all soldiers that they should not betray their allies or kill and steal without thinking about it. What he said:
Do not hurt or kill women, kids, old people, or sick people. Do not set houses on fire or damage palm trees.
Because of these teachings, Muslims have had moral and legal rules for a long time that have helped keep wars from hurting too many people.
The Torah
The University of Sydney’s Suzanne D. Rutland
Even though Judaism isn’t a pacifist religion, it has always put peace above all else, and prayers for peace are a big part of Jewish worship. Along with this, people understand that defensive wars are necessary, but only up to a certain point.
A clear need for war is shown in the Torah, which is made up of the Five Books of Moses. The Israelites (Children of Israel) fight many wars as they travel through the desert. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 12, verse 10, the Israelites are told something else:
When you are in camp and going out to fight your enemies, you should stay away from everything bad.
In Jewish tradition, the story of Amalek stands for the worst kind of evil. Scholars say this is because his troops attacked the Israelites from behind, killing women and children who couldn’t defend themselves.
The Torah also makes it clear that people must serve in the army. However, Deuteronomy lists four types of people who are not required to follow these rules:
someone who has built a house but hasn’t dedicated it yet; someone who has planted a vineyard but hasn’t yet eaten the fruit of it; someone who is engaged or in their first year of marriage; and someone who is scared, in case their fear affects other troops.
Peace is very important to Jews, even though Judaism is not a pacifist religion. Stock Photo
As an important side note, war is looked down upon so severely that King David could not build the temple in Jerusalem because he had been in the army. King David gave this job to his son Solomon, but no iron was to be used in the construction. Iron stood for war and violence, while the temple was supposed to represent peace, which is the best thing in the world.
The prophetic writings and the idea of the Messiah go into more detail about the vision of peace for all people. This is especially clear in the works of the prophet Isiah, who saw a time when, as he says in his perfect vision:
Swords will be turned into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. One country will not fight another country with a sword, and they will no longer learn how to fight.
The first part of the Talmud, called the Mishnah, talks about the idea of a “obligatory war” (milhemet mizvah). This includes the biblical wars against the seven countries that were said to live in the Promised Land, the war against Amalek, and the defensive wars of the Jewish people. Because of this, it is a clearly defined and recognizable class.
What about the second group, “permitted war” (milhemet reshut)? It’s more vague and, according to scholar Avi Ravitsky, “could relate to a preemptive war.”
In the years after the Talmudic period, in the 7th century, Jews in Palestine and the rest of the world did not have an army, so this argument became more theoretical. After the Bar Kokhba Rebellion was put down by the Romans (132–135 CE), this was mostly the case. There were a few small Jewish kingdoms in Arabia, though.
However, when the first Zionist pioneers came back to the Land of Israel in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the rabbis began to argue again about what makes a defensive war necessary, what makes a war okay, and what makes a war illegal. Both academics and rabbis are very worried and divided about this issue right now. Source: theconversation
