War and Everlasting Anguish

For the sake of the following argument, I would define war as prolonged acts of violence between two groups of people in an attempt to reach a settlement. Although this concept seems simple, war’s effects are widespread and enduring. War permanently warps soldiers’ mental processes and increases the possibility of more violence occurring in the future.

It is unnatural for man to kill man, as that is a job intended for nature. However, in times of war, soldiers have no choice but to “kill or be killed.” They cannot possibly do so if they recognize the humanity of their opponents. In order to slaughter their enemies without any traces of guilt, the soldiers must dehumanize them. Otherwise, if the soldiers did happen to recognize the humanity of their victims, they would be tormented by the murders they committed.

Once soldiers step onto the battlefield, they are leaving behind their previous lives. They are assuming the responsibility to defend their nation at all costs. Although some soldiers may be reluctant to kill, they will eventually become desensitized to the brutality of war and lose their own sense of identity. Detached from their life at home, they will fully adopt the personas of soldiers; they will prioritize killing the enemy because it is all they can recall. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment supports the notion that people can change to fit the roles they have been assigned. In this experiment, Zimbardo randomly labeled participants as either guards or prisoners and had them stay in an environment that resembled a prison. In a few days, he found that the guards were becoming increasingly cruel and the prisoners were becoming passive. Similarly, once soldiers in battle completely adopt their new identity, they become capable of killing ruthlessly. Furthermore, since violence provokes more violence, some soldiers commit war crimes. These are unwarranted atrocities that tend to harm the innocent. For example, American soldiers in Abu Ghraib physically and sexually humiliated war prisoners. War has permanently altered these soldiers’ mindsets to believe that they are greater than a god and capable of depriving another human being of his humanity.

War is a fairly simple idea that becomes complex as humans confront it. Rather than simply defeating an enemy and ending the discussion there, there are political, economic, and moral implications that have to be considered.