War is the
epitome of hell on earth in every sense of the word. The principle of war is
built on the complete disregard of human life and the good within human nature,
instead bringing forth and capitalizing on evil, suffering and death. The
powers that wage war do so because they deem one human life more valuable than
another, taking upon themselves the roles of both judge and executioner. As
George S. Patton, a general of the US Army, once put it “the object of war is
not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his”,
highlighting that war is first and foremost about killing the “other”. Although
the killing of another human being is always considered morally problematic and
prohibited by most legislatures and religious statutes, fighting a war is
perceived to give justification to the act of taking a human life. As war
seemingly provides justification for killing, the concept of “winning” a war,
in turn, seemingly gives justification for fighting a war, as well as the death
and destruction that comes with it. As noted by Hitler, “if you win, you need
not have to explain” and “the victor will never be asked if he told the truth”.
Although widely condemned today, Hitler’s words on the topic echo eerily true
today, with many governments and powerful individuals using the concept of
winning war to justifying waging war. This mentality can be seen throughout the
ages in the rhetoric of world leaders who wage war, from Ho Chi Minh, former
Prime Minister of Vietnam, who stated, “you can kill ten of our men for every
one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win”,
to George W. Bush, former US President, who claimed, “confronting the threat
posed by Iraq is crucial to winning the war on terror”. Yet such justification
begs the question, “how does one determine the winner of a war?” or rather “is
there such a thing?”.
Khassan
Baiev, a Chechen author and surgeon who went through the two Chechen wars,
addresses this question in his autobiographical novel titled The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire. Baiev, as
many before him, and undoubtedly many after him, argues “In war there are no
winners” (Baiev xiii). He supports his argument by detailing the horrors of the
Chechen wars, focusing on the death and suffering of a multitude of
individuals, from Chechen civilians to Russian soldiers. Baiev takes great care
to present the reality of war in all its horror, demonstrating how everyone
touched by war’s destructive touch is always a victim and, if lucky, a
survivor, but never a winner.
From the very
beginning of his novel, Baiev showcases the deaths and suffering of Chechen
innocent civilians. Although throughout the narrative he focuses on the
hardships and pain of individuals, as the war progresses Baiev begins to detail
the injustices and horrors of war on a larger scale. In chapter seven, he
writes “100,000 civilians remained [in Grozny] dying in the rubble of their
apartments” (Baiev 117) and explains how a special weapon was employed by the
Russian military and “ended up shredding the bodies of hundreds of civilians
(Baiev 117). The use of numerical figures by Baiev illustrates how war takes
the lives of individuals, who in the long term become no more than statistics,
anonymous and unmourned. Such a shift in descriptions, from names to numbers,
demonstrate that war kills and maims indiscriminately. This idea is further
reinforced in another instance described by Baiev, as he is trying to treat a
young Chechen girl “struck in her back by shrapnel” (Baiev 121). As he is
trying to hastily provide her with the necessary medical care and insure her
survival, he asks for the mother to remove the girl’s dress, in response to
which the girl cried out “No! No!” (Baiev 121). Her objection to have her dress
removed in order to maintain her modesty, even though otherwise she might die from
her injuries, highlights the innocence of her spirit. Not only is the girl
innocent in terms of the war, she is also pure and unadulterated by the
corruption of the world. Both of these stories recorded by Baiev in his
autobiographical novel, illustrate the victimization of the innocent and
general population during wartime, a reality, in my opinion, incompatible with
the concept of wartime victory.
Once Baiev
establishes the losses and suffering endured by civilians and the innocent, he
then proceeds to detail how war and violence also victimizes the troops and
soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Although the general perception is that
Russia successfully won the Chechen Wars, as it prevented Chechnya from
establishing an independent state and instead established a pro-Russian
government, Baiev illustrates that the Russian victory is an illusion by
telling the story of three Russian soldiers. Baiev met Seriozha, Kostya and
Ivan, three young Russian recruits who were stationed in Chechnya during the
violent conflict, at a military checkpoint. Upon reading through Baiev’s
documents and seeing that he had lived in Krasnoyarsk, they react by
recognizing a sort of commonality and from there on they establish a rapport,
always greeting him “with a smile” (Baiev 133). Once the three young Russian
men cannot take the war and their military duty any more, they desert and come
to Baiev for help. Upon seeing them, Baiev reflects, “fear was written all over
their faces” (Baiev 135). The young men declare to him that they “have nothing
against you Chechens” (Baiev 136) and that they “don’t know why we are here”
(Baiev 136). The decision made by Baiev to help three Russian army deserters is
made by him because he realizes that even though while in Chechnya they are enemy
soldiers, back home they are sons and brothers, civilians thrown into a war
that is not their own.
As the First
Chechen War concludes and a shaky peace is established between the Russian and
Chechens, Baiev shifts his focus from describing the horror of war time and
instead highlights the devastating long-term consequences of war. Although some
would argue that Chechnya won the military conflict by preventing the Russian
troops from occupying the area, Baiev instead illustrates how much Chechnya
lost during the war. He does so by detailing an interaction he had with an
elderly patient who confessed that “he had killed his own son” (Baiev 236). The
patient tells the story of how his son, a young man plagued by the horrors he
witnessed during the war, became a heroin addict and wreaked havoc on his
neighbors and village. As a result, the elders call on the young man’s father
to “control him” (Baiev 236). Although the father tried everything from locking
the young man in his room to tying him to the bed, he was unable to restrain
the young man. The father explains to Baiev, “I had no way out. I shot him. It
was the most difficult thing I have ever done” (Baiev 236). As Baiev reflects
on the story, he accentuates the deadly echoes of war even long after combat
has ceased, claiming more lives and turning more men into murders.
Contemplating the post-war state of Chechnya, Baiev states “if prisons,
psychiatric hospitals or treatment centers had existed, maybe the son could
have been saved. But everything had been destroyed” (Baiev 236). This single story
illustrates that the destruction of a region’s infrastructure is an immense
loss to the population it is supposed to serve. Although the Chechens in the
region had survived and maintained a degree of independence, one would be a
fool to argue that the Chechen people had won anything.
The long
lasting consequences of war and military ideology still echo through Russia as
well. According to a report done by the World Health Organization, Russia ranks
first worldwide in number of suicides committed by its male citizens
(Serebryany, Russian Men are at the Top
Place for Committed Suicides). One of the contributing reason that the
number is so high, according to experts, is the widely accepted Russian
mentality that “a man is born to sacrifice himself – to the Motherland … and to
military duty” (Serebryany, Russian Men
are at the Top Place for Committed Suicides). Thus there is a direct
connection between the war-centric Russian mentality, as well as perhaps the
fact that military service is mandatory for males, and the rate at which the
Russian men commit suicide. Moreover, a study published in the Lancet medical journal, estimated that a
quarter of Russian men will not make it to the age of 55 due to an excessive
consumption of alcohol (Abad-Santos, One
in Four Russian Men Won't Make It to 55). When combined with another study,
which found that military “service members consume alcohol on more days of the
year than any other profession” (Simkins, The
Military Leads All Other Professions in the Number of Days Spent Drinking per
Year), the connection between Russian men literally drinking themselves to
death and the consequences of both the Russian military mentality and history
become quite clear. The consequences for the Russian population do not stop
there, as such high death rates amongst Russian males result in a third of
Russian families being supported by single mothers (Bennetts, Single Mothers Left in Charge of 1 in 3
Russian Households). Overall, I believe that the cited studies clearly
demonstrate that while some may argue that Russia won the Chechen Wars, just
like decades before it won the Second World War, the country’s population is
severely suffering as a result of both the country’s military history and the preserving
military mentality. I believe that the figures provided prove that the Russian
population is still paying a high price for the military conflicts of the past,
resulting in a tragic loss of sobriety, human lives and valuable father-figures
for the growing generation.
Although the
above cited information pertains directly to the negative consequences of war
on the Russian population and Baiev details the costs of war suffered by the
Chechens, the principles discussed both in his novel and in this paper are
applicable to any violent conflict. The reality that in war there are no
winners is just as evident when looking at America’s War on Terror waged in the
Middle East. In the last couple decades, multiple US Presidents have insisted
on the prospect of victory, from George W. Bush to Donald Trump who stated “we
will push onward to victory with power in our hearts” while referring to
American troops in Afghanistan. However, a study done by Brown University
estimates that the War on Terror has cost the United States $6 trillion and a
death toll of almost 400,000 lives of American military and both Afgan and
Iraqi civilians. It is estimated that 100,000 opposition fighters have lost
their lives in the conflict (Grisales, The
Cost of Post 9/11 Wars). These estimates make it impossible to detect a
single victory on either side of the conflict, while the losses suffered by
both the American people and the people of the Middle East are abounding.
In conclusion
I must confess, although I am able to research and summarize the statistics
presented above, I am no expert on war. I have never been on the front lines. I
do not know what it is like to live without, as a result of military conflict.
I have not lost my father or my brother to the violence of war. All that I know
of war comes from the news, the stories of people like Baiev and my neighbor
who grew up in Chechnya and the statistics available online. Although not an
expert with any firsthand experience, I am confident that war is evil. I believe
that war kills both body and spirit. I believe that war scars people for
generations to come, leaving children without fathers exposed to the worst of
what human nature has to offer. Although not an expert with any firsthand
experience, I am confident that in war there are no winners.
Works Cited
Abad-Santos, Alexander. “One in Four Russian Men Won't Make It to 55, and Vodka Is to Blame”. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/one-four-russian-men-wont-make-it-55-and-vodka-blame/357592/
Baiev, Khassan. The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire. New York, Walker Publishing Company, 2003.
Bennetts, Marc. “Single Mothers Left in Charge of 1 in 3 Russian Households”. The Times. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/single-mothers-left-in-charge-of-1-in-3-russian-households-dkmqbctdz
Grisales, Claudia. “The Cost of Post 9/11 Wars.” Stars and Stripes. https://www.stripes.com/news/us/the-cost-of-post-9-11-wars-hit-5-9-trillion-480-000-lives-lost-study-says-1.556646
Serebryany, Igor. “Russian Men are at the Top Place for Committed Suicides”. Fair Planet. https://www.fairplanet.org/editors-pick/russian-men-on-the-top-place-of-committed-suicides/
Simkins, J. “The Military Leads All Other Professions in the Number of Days Spent Drinking Per Year, Study Claims”. Military Times. https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2019/04/05/the-military-leads-all-other-professions-in-the-number-of-days-spent-drinking-per-year/
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