Turning Swords Into Plowshares
These are words from the Old Testament–words of hope
from a prophet that, at the end of time, “nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to that point, and
mankind continues to find new ways to kill each other…of turning plowshares
into swords.
It is sad, but true, that when new technologies have
been developed, humans have found a way to turn them against each other. I
would expect that back in the Bronze Age, spears were developed to hunt for
meat or as protection against wild animals. However, it wasn’t long before they
were being used in warfare between opposing tribes.
World War I is another example of how new technology
was applied in war-making. Soon after the internal combustion engine was
invented, nations found a way to mechanize warfare. By putting tracks and a gun
on a steel reinforced platform, you could make a tank. Tanks were introduced to
supplement the machine guns and artillery used in the trench lines and killing
fields of eastern France during the conflict. (You will find cemeteries here
with graves of thousands of Americans who died in that war.)
Perhaps the biggest “advance” in warfare at that time,
was the introduction of the airplane. Balloons had been used during war, at
least as far back as America’s Civil War. But, airplanes brought a whole new
technology to fighting. Not only could planes fight each other, they could drop
bombs from the sky behind the lines.
Recently, in Ukraine, we have seen the development of
another new technology in fighting — drones. Drones, we thought, would be
delivering packages to our homes. Now, they have been adapted for war. With a
drone, you don’t need to endanger a pilot who could be shot down. Computers,
GPS’s, and remote radio-control — guide drones that deliver bombs and
destruction against the enemy.
This new, and somewhat strange way of fighting, will
again change things in the world of warfare. It is apparent that ships are no
longer safe. On several occasions, Ukrainian drones, both by air and sea, have
sunk Russian warships. It now appears that Russia’s advantage in having a large
Black Sea Fleet has been greatly compromised. Russia also has drones, many made
in Iran, which have been used against Ukraine.
What does this mean for the future of warfare? Will an
aircraft carrier carry drones instead of man-piloted aircraft? Will the
aircraft carrier itself now become outmoded because of its vulnerability to
drones? How do you defend against drones? Apparently, they can be shot down but
also, many get through to their targets.
In the midst of this new development, old threats still
prevail — especially, the threat of nuclear war. If there is one thing we know
about human history, it has been a history of war.
All of this, to my mind, makes the work of our local
native, Robert H. Jackson, even more relevant. At Nuremburg he led the way in
establishing new definitions like “aggressive war” and “crimes against
humanity.” In his words, as quoted in bronze at the Center carrying his name,
an achievable goal should be to “root out of men’s thinking that all wars are
legal,– [then] at last, we will have mobilized the forces of law on the side of
peace.”
In the meantime, we need to keep yearning and hoping
for those days promised by the prophet, when “swords will be turned into
plowshares… and they shall learn war no more.”
Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident and a Vietnam War
Navy veteran.
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