The Destructive Impact of War: Causes and Consequences Essay

In what sense is war a drug and who are its peddlers.

The majority of people believe that war is a horrible thing. Wars bring millions of deaths and devastation of the land, they separate families and turn friends into enemies, and they change the course of life in the whole countries and continents. However, there have always been people who wanted to start wars and who wanted to win them. The motives of war may be slightly different in every particular situation, but the basic driving force has always been the desire of one side to take away something from the other. The second side’s purpose is, consequently, the wish to defend its property.

War is compared to a drug in the sense that it has the power to engage even those who at first consider it wrong and unacceptable. Gradually, under the influence of propaganda and close people’s opinions, a man can change from a pacifist into a soldier who is ready to deprive others of their lives. In the story “Editha” by William Dean Howells, we can see how the main character, George, “seemed to despise it [war] even more than he abhorred it” (Howells 1). However, under the impact of his fiancée Editha, he decides to enlist. When he tells his girlfriend about his decision, he remarks, “It’s astonishing how well the worse reason looks when you try to make it appear the better” (Howells 4). Just like drug addicts justify their behavior, this character is trying to persuade himself that he has made the right choice.

If we consider war a drug, there is a need to identify its peddlers. Generally, they are some ideas or ideals which people rush to defend when governed by their own principles or by propaganda methods. While approved by some people, the drug of war is strongly opposed by others. The movie Paths of Glory (1957) is one of the best examples of the absurdity of war. Another film, MASH (1970), ridicules the very essence of war although it has a sad context at its core. These two powerful pieces of cinematography are just a drop in the ocean of great examples of the idiocy of war. Unfortunately, not everyone understands that war is not noble but catastrophic. Too many people are still under the influence of the war “drug.”

The Positions and Actions of the Weather Underground

“The Company You Keep” by Neil Gordon describes the activity of an organization called The Weather Underground which aimed at overthrowing the US government as it considered the government’s actions wrong. While there is something noble in their purpose (for instance, they emphasized that they wanted to make the people’s life in the US better), I cannot agree with their methods.

The main character says that “every single day” the situation “has gotten worse” (Gordon n. p.), and the nation needed a change. However, I do not think that radical actions threatening the lives of people can be considered positive. The Weather Underground employed some terroristic approaches, which contradicts my pacifistic views. It is indeed good to fight for equality and life improvement. Still, I prefer more peaceful methods.

When James expresses his position that “all Weather was saying was that this government should follow what the Constitution says” (Gordon n. p.), Rebecca contradicts him. She says that the Weather is morally responsible “for encouraging the lefties that did kill” (Gordon n. p.). I support her opinion as I am convinced that promoting others to kill is not less a crime than killing. Throughout the book, some characters are trying to convince us that the activity of the Weather Underground was beneficial and would lead to positive changes in the country. However, I think that nothing positive can arise from the deaths of innocent people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Defending his organization, James says that the Weather was not just “a bunch of spoiled brats who survived only by the grace of the FBI’s incompetence” (Gordon n. p.). He emphasizes the wisdom of the members and their outstanding loyalty to each other even after many years. He says that even though not all of them liked him, they never justified against him. James tells his daughter, “find me another group of former friends, anywhere, who has never betrayed each other” (Gordon n. p.). While I like this particular feature about the Weathermen, I am opposed to the organization’s activity in general. They did have a noble aim, but they failed to reach it with peaceful methods.

The Sense of Self-Identification in Slavenka Drakulić’s “S. A Novel about the Balkans”

When depicting the tortures which the women had to undergo during the Bosnian war, the author states that “each of them had ceased to be a person” when the soldiers came, and that they have been diminished “to a collection of similar beings of a female gender, of the same blood” (Drakulić n. p.). The author then remarks that “blood alone” bears significance: the soldiers’ “right” blood against the women’s “wrong” blood (Drakulić n. p.).

However, Drakulić notices that not only the women have undergone a significant change with the arrival of the war. She says that the soldiers “are no longer people either,” only they have not realized it yet (Drakulić n. p.). By this statement, the author means that there is no personal identification for those who have become the raping and killing machines, without any feelings, or at least display of feelings. The women see the soldiers as “dangerous envoys of a suprapersonal power which is forcing them to do what they are doing” (Drakulić n. p.). The main character of the book, S., understands that the soldiers are also captives, and they have no face or individuality. They do not own themselves – their willpower and their bodies are governed not by them but by “somebody else – the army, the leader, the nation” (Drakulić n. p.).

The author’s opinion is that the soldiers are not entirely aware of their position. She states that they merely do what they are told, “obey and execute the orders” of those who they are scared of or “in whom they believe” (Drakulić n. p.). Those who do not have their own will and the right to make decisions by themselves are not free to be called people. The soldiers do not realize it; they think they have power and they “are something else” (Drakulić n. p.). When they are standing in front of the “women’s room,” just before entering it, they think for a second that they are the “masters” of the situation (Drakulić n. p.).

The main character is wondering whether the soldiers realize that they are also victims of the war: they cannot “run away” or “hide,” they can be murdered any second, and they are not humans any longer (Drakulić n. p.).

The Demoralizing Power of War

One of the characters of Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida” describes war as an act involving “too much blood and too little brain” (Shakespeare 172). At the same time, it has often been mentioned that even those who begin a war with honorable intentions are eventually corrupted by it. War inevitably changes people, and the change is usually for the worse. Whether it is a physical pain or mental ache, greed or depression, disappointment or eagerness to kill more, the outcomes of taking part in a war are always adverse.

Shohei Ooka’s “Fires on the Plain” as a Manifestation of War’s Destructive Power

The book “Fires on the Plain” by a Japanese author Shohei Ooka depicts the horrors of World War II experienced by a Japanese soldier in the Philippines. Many of the destructive impacts of war are represented in the book: Private Tamura fights exhaustion, starvation, dementia, and self-perception. The book describes the gradual decline of feelings after experiencing too many war atrocities. If in the beginning Tamura “felt a shock of fear” (Ooka 22) and was “easily frightened of anything new” (Ooka 79), by the end of the book he is no longer shocked by seeing the random body parts of his mates (Ooka 179).

There is an example of how unneeded the soldiers become when they cannot fight any longer: “the only concern of the doctors was how to get rid of their patients and save food” (Ooka 31). This case shows the unacceptable treatment of the government – the power encouraging people to enlist. It, too, is an adverse impact of the war: people give away their lives for the country and then are left to cope with the problems by themselves. However, Tamura mentions that even in the worst circumstances the native land is better to meet the hardships. He says, “in our own country, even in the most distant or inaccessible part, this feeling of strangeness never comes to us” (Ooka 18).

The soldier’s contemplations being him to the conclusion that he has no right to enjoy the world’s beauty but only needs to consider it from a professional standpoint. Tamura says that an infantryman should view “a gentle hollow in the ground” as “a shelter from artillery fire” and the “beautiful green fields” as “dangerous terrain” (Ooka 19).

Shohei Ooka’s book is a powerful illustration of the demoralizing power of war. It shows how war can irrevocably change a person and how unnecessary it is.

The Abhorrent Pictures of War in Slavenka Drakulić’s “S. A Novel about the Balkans”

It is difficult to understand the motives of the soldiers going to war, but they can be explained at least somehow. What cannot be justified, however, is the lot of the women during a war. Having no sufficient strength to take part in the fighting, the female part of the population is left without any support or defense, exposed to many dangers beginning with the attacks and ending with horrific raping and cruelty of the opposing army. Drakulić’s book “S. A Novel about the Balkans” describes this side of the war: outrageously merciless treatment of Bosnian Muslim women by the Serbian soldiers.

The description of the terrible things done to the women makes the blood run cold. The main character is used “to the pain of being hit by a rifle butt, slapped, tied up, to the dull pain of her head being banged against the wall, or being kicked in the chest by a boot” (Drakulić n. p.). At the beginning of the book, S. is at the hospital after giving birth to a baby whose father was an unknown soldier who had raped her. Such cases were not rare in those years: S. became so used to brutal treatment that she “no longer had a will of her own, it has been replaced by something else, as if a robot has taken control of her body” (Drakulić n. p.).

The central theme and the details of this book emphasize the atrocious character of any war and remind us that it is necessary to be humans. The war has the power to turn people into animals, heartless creatures who forget the primary aim of defending their country’s interests and destroy everything and everyone in their way.

“ The Company You Keep” by Neil Gordon: Is a Good War Better than a Bad Peace?

Gordon’s book is dedicated to the Weather Underground – an organization which claimed to have people’s interests as its priority. However, the means employed by its activists were far prom peaceful. Therefore, a question arises: is it worthwhile to gain peace and a better life for the country by killing people? Gordon’s character James Grant is trying to persuade his daughter (and the readers) that they were trying to do a good thing. While writing to his daughter about “the bad people murdering each other horribly from Sierra Leone to Bethlehem” (Gordon n. p.), he does not consider his organization guilty of several deaths and other crimes.

I do not think that radical organizations like the Weather Underground deserve to be called democratic. If they employ force in their activity, they cannot say they want to ensure peace. James argues that “if this country had made the three central ideas of the Port Huron Statement – anti-war, anti-racism, and anti-imperialism – the law of the land, today we’d be living in a safe, just, and prosperous society” (Gordon n. p.). However, I believe that they could have chosen a more pacifistic way to show their dissatisfaction with the government.

As we can see from numerous examples in the books and movies, war has the power to corrupt and irrevocably change people. Even if they enter it with noble intentions, they end up becoming either too much hurt and depressed or too much cruel and ready to destroy. Whichever direction we may consider, it will be a bad one. War alters people, it destroys their physical and mental health, and it undermines the good that had been in people’s minds. Shakespeare’s character was right saying that war involves “too much blood and too little brain” (Shakespeare 172). If people were wiser, they would realize that war is the worst method to achieve their plans. The Machiavellian principle of the aim justifying the means is not suitable here. In my opinion, war cannot be justified by any aims.

Works Cited

Drakulić, Slavenka. S. A Novel about the Balkans . Penguin, 2001.

Gordon, Neil. The Company You Keep . Pan MacMillan, 2013.

Howells, William Dean. “Editha.” Washington State University, Web.

MASH . Directed by Robert Altman, performances by Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, and Robert Duvall, 20th Century Fox, 1970.

Ooka, Shohei. Fires on the Plain . Tuttle Publishing, 2000.

Paths of Glory . Directed by Stanley Kubrick, performances by Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, and Wayne Morris, United Artists, 1957.

Shakespeare, William. Troilus and Cressida. Filiquarian Publishing, 2007.

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Bibliography

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The Devastating Effects of Nuclear Weapons

war destruction essay

What can nuclear weapons do? How do they achieve their destructive purpose? What would a nuclear war — and its aftermath — look like? In the article that follows, excerpted from Richard Wolfson and Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress’s book “ Nuclear Choices for the Twenty-First Century ,” the authors explore these and related questions that reveal the most horrifying realities of nuclear war.

A Bomb Explodes: Short-Term Effects

The most immediate effect of a nuclear explosion is an intense burst of nuclear radiation, primarily gamma rays and neutrons. This direct radiation is produced in the weapon’s nuclear reactions themselves, and lasts well under a second. Lethal direct radiation extends nearly a mile from a 10-kiloton explosion. With most weapons, though, direct radiation is of little significance because other lethal effects generally encompass greater distances. An important exception is the enhanced-radiation weapon, or neutron bomb, which maximizes direct radiation and minimizes other destructive effects.

war destruction essay

An exploding nuclear weapon instantly vaporizes itself. What was cold, solid material microseconds earlier becomes a gas hotter than the Sun’s 15-million-degree core. This hot gas radiates its energy in the form of X-rays, which heat the surrounding air. A fireball of superheated air forms and grows rapidly; 10 seconds after a 1-megaton explosion, the fireball is a mile in diameter. The fireball glows visibly from its own heat — so visibly that the early stages of a 1-megaton fireball are many times brighter than the Sun even at a distance of 50 miles. Besides light, the glowing fireball radiates heat.

This thermal flash lasts many seconds and accounts for more than one-third of the weapon’s explosive energy. The intense heat can ignite fires and cause severe burns on exposed flesh as far as 20 miles from a large thermonuclear explosion. Two-thirds of injured Hiroshima survivors showed evidence of such flash burns. You can think of the incendiary effect of thermal flash as analogous to starting a fire using a magnifying glass to concentrate the Sun’s rays. The difference is that rays from a nuclear explosion are so intense that they don’t need concentration to ignite flammable materials.

The intense heat can ignite fires and cause severe burns on exposed flesh as far as 20 miles from a large thermonuclear explosion.

As the rapidly expanding fireball pushes into the surrounding air, it creates a blast wave consisting of an abrupt jump in air pressure. The blast wave moves outward initially at thousands of miles per hour but slows as it spreads. It carries about half the bomb’s explosive energy and is responsible for most of the physical destruction. Normal air pressure is about 15 pounds per square inch (psi). That means every square inch of your body or your house experiences a force of 15 pounds. You don’t usually feel that force, because air pressure is normally exerted equally in all directions, so the 15 pounds pushing a square inch of your body one way is counterbalanced by 15 pounds pushing the other way. What you do feel is overpressure , caused by a greater air pressure on one side of an object.

If you’ve ever tried to open a door against a strong wind, you’ve experienced overpressure. An overpressure of even 1/100 psi could make a door almost impossible to open. That’s because a door has lots of square inches — about 3,000 or more. So 1/100 psi adds up to a lot of pounds. The blast wave of a nuclear explosion may create overpressures of several psi many miles from the explosion site. Think about that! There are about 50,000 square inches in the front wall of a modest house — and that means 50,000 pounds or 25 tons of force even at 1 psi overpressure. Overpressures of 5 psi are enough to destroy most residential buildings. An overpressure of 10 psi collapses most factories and commercial buildings, and 20 psi will level even reinforced concrete structures.

war destruction essay

People, remarkably, are relatively immune to overpressure itself. But they aren’t immune to collapsing buildings or to pieces of glass hurtling through the air at hundreds of miles per hour or to having themselves hurled into concrete walls — all of which are direct consequences of a blast wave’s overpressure. Blast effects therefore cause a great many fatalities. Blast effects depend in part on where a weapon is detonated. The most widespread damage to buildings occurs in an air burst , a detonation thousands of feet above the target. The blast wave from an air burst reflects off the ground, which enhances its destructive power. A ground burst , in contrast, digs a huge crater and pulverizes everything in the immediate vicinity, but its blast effects don’t extend as far. Nuclear attacks on cities would probably employ air bursts, whereas ground bursts would be used on hardened military targets such as underground missile silos. As you’ll soon see, the two types of blasts have different implications for radioactive fallout.

How far do a weapon’s destructive effects extend? That distance — the radius of destruction — depends on the explosive yield. The volume encompassing a given level of destruction depends directly on the weapon’s yield. Because volume is proportional to the radius cubed, that means the destructive radius grows approximately as the cube root of the yield. A 10-fold increase in yield then increases the radius of destruction by a factor of only a little over two. The area of destruction grows faster but still not in direct proportion to the yield. That relatively slow increase in destruction with increasing yield is one reason why multiple smaller weapons are more effective than a single larger one. Twenty 50-kiloton warheads, for example, destroy nearly three times the area leveled by a numerically equivalent 1-megaton weapon.

war destruction essay

What constitutes the radius of destruction also depends on the level of destruction you want to achieve. Roughly speaking, though, the distance at which overpressure has fallen to about 5 psi is a good definition of destructive radius. Many of the people within this distance would be killed, although some wouldn’t. But some would be killed beyond the 5-psi distance, making the situation roughly equivalent to having everyone within the 5-psi circle killed and everyone outside surviving. The image to the left shows how the destructive zone varies with explosive yield for a hypothetical explosion. This is a simplified picture; a more careful calculation of the effects of nuclear weapons on entire populations requires detailed simulations that include many environmental and geographic variables.

The blast wave is over in a minute or so, but the immediate destruction may not be. Fires started by the thermal flash or by blast effects still rage, and under some circumstances they may coalesce into a single gigantic blaze called a firestorm that can develop its own winds and thus cause the fire to spread. Hot gases rise from the firestorm, replaced by air rushing inward along the surface at hundreds of miles per hour. Winds and fire compound the blast damage, and the fire consumes enough oxygen to suffocate any remaining survivors.

During World War II, bombing of Hamburg with incendiary chemicals resulted in a firestorm that claimed 45,000 lives. The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima resulted in a firestorm; that of Nagasaki did not, likely because of Nagasaki’s rougher terrain. The question of firestorms is important not only to the residents of a target area: Firestorms might also have significant long-term effects on the global climate, as we’ll discuss later.

Both nuclear and conventional weapons produce destructive blast effects, although of vastly different magnitudes. But radioactive fallout is unique to nuclear weapons. Fallout consists primarily of fission products, although neutron capture and other nuclear reactions contribute additional radioactive material. The term fallout generally applies to those isotopes whose half-lives exceed the time scale of the blast and other short-term effects. Although fallout contamination may linger for years and even decades, the dominant lethal effects last from days to weeks, and contemporary civil defense recommendations are for survivors to stay inside for at least 48 hours while the radiation decreases.

The fallout produced in a nuclear explosion depends greatly on the type of weapon, its explosive yield, and where it’s exploded. The neutron bomb, although it produces intense direct radiation, is primarily a fusion device and generates only slight fallout from its fission trigger. Small fission weapons like those used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki produce locally significant fallout. But the fission-fusion-fission design used in today’s thermonuclear weapons introduces the new phenomenon of global fallout . Most of this fallout comes from fission of the U-238 jacket that surrounds the fusion fuel. The global effect of these huge weapons comes partly from the sheer quantity of radioactive material and partly from the fact that the radioactive cloud rises well into the stratosphere, where it may take months or even years to reach the ground. Even though we’ve had no nuclear war since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, fallout is one weapons effect with which we have experience. Atmospheric nuclear testing before the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty resulted in detectable levels of radioactive fission products across the globe, and some of that radiation is still with us.

Fallout differs greatly depending on whether a weapon is exploded at ground level or high in the atmosphere. In an air burst, the fireball never touches the ground, and radioactivity rises into the stratosphere. This reduces local fallout but enhances global fallout. In a ground burst, the explosion digs a huge crater and entrains tons of soil, rock, and other pulverized material into its rising cloud. Radioactive materials cling to these heavier particles, which drop back the ground in a relatively short time. Rain may wash down particularly large amounts of radioactive material, producing local hot spots of especially intense radioactivity. A hot spot in Albany, New York, thousands of miles from the 1953 Nevada test that produced it, exposed area residents to some 10 times their annual background radiation dose. The exact distribution of fallout depends crucially on wind speed and direction; under some conditions, lethal fallout may extend several hundred miles downwind of an explosion. However, it’s important to recognize that the lethality of fallout quickly decreases as short-lived isotopes decay.

Recommended Response to a Nuclear Explosion

The United States government has recently provided guidance on how to respond to a nuclear detonation. One recommendation is to divide the region of destruction due to blast effects into three separate damage zones. This division provides guidance for first responders in assessing the situation. Outermost is the light damage zone , characterized by “broken windows and easily managed injuries.” Next is the moderate damage zone with “significant building damage, rubble, downed utility lines and some downed poles, overturned automobiles, fires, and serious injuries.” Finally, there’s the severe damage zone , where buildings will be completely collapsed, radiation levels high, and survivors unlikely.

The recommendations also define a dangerous fallout zone spanning different structural damage zones. This is the region where dose rates exceed a whole-body external dose of about 0.1 Sv/hour. First responders must exercise special precautions as they approach the fallout zone in order to limit their own radiation exposure. The dangerous fallout zone can easily stretch 10 to 20 miles (15 to 30 kilometers) from the detonation depending on explosive yield and weather conditions.

war destruction essay

Electromagnetic Pulse

A nuclear weapon exploded at very high altitude produces none of the blast or local fallout effects we’ve just described. But intense gamma rays knock electrons out of atoms in the surrounding air, and when the explosion takes place in the rarefied air at high altitude this effect may extend hundreds of miles. As they gyrate in Earth’s magnetic field, the electrons generate an intense pulse of radio waves known as an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

A single large weapon exploded some 200 miles over the central United States could blanket the entire country with an electromagnetic pulse intense enough to damage computers, communication systems, and other electronic devices. It could also affect satellites used for military communications, reconnaissance, and attack warning. The EMP phenomenon thus has profound implications for a military that depends on sophisticated electronics. In 1962, the United States detonated a 1.4-megaton warhead 250 miles above Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean. People as far as Australia and New Zealand witnessed the explosion as a red aurora appearing in the night sky. Hawaiians, only 800 miles from the island, experienced a bright flash followed by a green sky and the failure of hundreds of street lights. In total, the Soviet Union and the United States conducted 20 tests of EMP from nuclear detonations. However, it’s unclear how to extrapolate the results to today’s more sensitive and more pervasive electronic equipment.

Since the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963 it has been virtually impossible to study EMP effects directly, although elaborate devices have been developed to mimic the electronic impact of nuclear weapons. Increasingly, crucial electronic systems are “hardened” to minimize the impact of EMP. Nevertheless, the use of EMP in a war could wreak havoc with systems for communication and control of military forces.

Many countries are around the world are developing high-powered microwave weapons which, although not nuclear devices, are designed to produce EMPs. These directed-energy weapons , also called e-bombs , emit large pulses of microwaves to destroy electronics on missiles, to stop cars, to detonate explosives remotely, and to down swarms of drones. Despite these EMP weapons being nonlethal in the sense that there’s no bang or blast wave, an enemy may be unable to distinguish their effects from those of nuclear weapons.

Would the high-altitude detonation of a nuclear weapon to produce EMP or the use of a directed-beam EMP weapon be an act of war warranting nuclear retaliation? With its electronic warning systems in disarray, should the EMPed nation launch a nuclear strike on the chance that it was about to be attacked? How are nuclear decisions to be made in a climate of EMP-crippled communications? These are difficult questions, but military strategists need to have answers.

Nuclear War

So far we’ve examined the effects of single nuclear explosions. But a nuclear war would involve hundreds to thousands of explosions, creating a situation for which we simply have no relevant experience. Despite decades of arms reduction treaties, there are still thousands of nuclear weapons in the world’s arsenals. Detonating only a tiny fraction of these would cause mass casualties.

What would a nuclear war be like? When you think of nuclear war, you probably envision an all-out holocaust in which adversaries unleash their arsenals in an attempt to inflict the most damage. Many people — including your authors — believe that misfortune to be the likely outcome of almost any use of nuclear weapons among the superpowers. But nuclear strategists have explored many scenarios that fall short of the all-out nuclear exchange. What might these limited nuclear wars be like? Could they really remain limited ?

Limited Nuclear War

One form of limited nuclear war would be like a conventional battlefield conflict but using low-yield tactical nuclear weapons. Here’s a hypothetical scenario: After its 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russia attacks a Baltic country with tanks and ground forces while the United States is distracted by a domestic crisis. NATO responds with decisive counterforce, destroying Russian tanks with fighter jets, but this doesn’t quell Russian resolve. Russia responds with even more tanks and by bombing NATO installations, killing several hundred troops. NATO cannot tolerate such aggression and to prevent further Russian advance launches low-yield tactical nuclear weapons with their dial-a-yield positions set to the lowest settings of only 300 tons TNT equivalent. The goal is to signal Russia that it has crossed a line and to deescalate the situation. NATO’s actions are based on fear that if the Russian aggression weren’t stopped the result would be all-out war in northern Europe.

This strategy is actually being discussed in the higher echelons of the Pentagon. The catchy concept is that use of a few low-yield nuclear weapons could show resolve, with the hoped-for outcome that the other party will back down from its aggressive behavior (this concept is known as escalate to deescalate ). The assumption is that the nuclear attack would remain limited, that parties would go back to the negotiating table, and that saner voices would prevail. However, this assumes a chain of events where everything unfolds as expected. It neglects the incontrovertible fact that, as the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz observed in the 19th century, “Three quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty.” Often coined fog of war , this describes the lack of clarity in wartime situations on which decisions must nevertheless be based. In the scenario described, sensors could have been damaged or lines of communication severed that would have reported the low-yield nature of the nuclear weapons. As a result, Russia might feel its homeland threatened and respond with an all-out attack using strategic nuclear weapons, resulting in millions of deaths.

There is every reason to believe that a limited nuclear war wouldn’t remain limited.

There is every reason to believe that a limited nuclear war wouldn’t remain limited. A 1983 war game known as Proud Prophet involved top-secret nuclear war plans and had as participants high-level decision makers including President Reagan’s Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. The war game followed actual plans but unexpectedly ended in total nuclear annihilation with more than half a billion fatalities in the initial onslaught — not including subsequent deaths from starvation. The exercise revealed that a limited nuclear strike may not achieve the desired results! In this case, that was because the team playing the Soviet Union responded to a limited U.S. nuclear strike with a massive all-out nuclear attack.

What about an attack on North Korea? In 2017, some in the U.S. cabinet advocated for a “bloody nose” strategy in dealing with North Korea’s flagrant violations of international law. This is the notion that in response to a threatening action by North Korea, the U.S. would destroy a significant site to “bloody Pyongyang’s nose.” This might employ a low-yield nuclear attack or a conventional attack. The “bloody nose” strategy relies on the expectation that Pyongyang would be so overwhelmed by U.S. might that they would immediately back down and not retaliate. However, North Korea might see any type of aggression as an attack aimed at overthrowing their regime, and could retaliate with an all-or-nothing response using weapons of mass destruction (including but not necessarily limited to nuclear weapons) as well as their vast conventional force.

In September 2017, during the height of verbal exchanges between President Trump and the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, the U.S. flew B-1B Lancer bombers along the North Korean coast, further north of the demilitarized zone than the U.S. had ever done, while still staying over international waters. However, North Korea didn’t respond at all, making analysts wonder whether the bombers were even detected. Uncertainty in North Korea’s ability to discriminate different weapon systems might exacerbate a situation like this one and could lead the North Koreans viewing any intrusion as an “attack on their nation, their way of life and their honor.” This is exactly how the Soviet team in the Proud Prophet war game interpreted it.

What about a limited attack on the United States? Suppose a nuclear adversary decided to cripple the U.S. nuclear retaliatory forces (a virtual impossibility, given nuclear missile submarines, but a scenario considered with deadly seriousness by nuclear planners). Many of the 48 contiguous states have at least one target — a nuclear bomber base, a submarine support base, or intercontinental missile silos — that would warrant destruction in such an attack. The attack, which would require only a tiny fraction of the strategic nuclear weapons in the Russian arsenal, could kill millions of civilians. Those living near targeted bomber and submarine bases would suffer blast and local radiation effects. Intense fallout from ground-burst explosions on missile silos in the Midwest would extend all the way to the Atlantic coast. Fallout would also contaminate a significant fraction of U.S. cropland for up to year and would kill livestock. On the other hand, the U.S. industrial base would remain relatively unscathed, if no further hostilities occurred.

In contrast to attacking military targets, an adversary might seek to cripple the U.S. economy by destroying a vital industry. In one hypothetical attack considered by the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, ten Soviet SS-18 missiles, each with eight 1-megaton warheads, attack United States’ oil refineries. The result is destruction of two-thirds of the U.S. oil-refining capability. And even with some evacuation of major cities in the hypothetical crisis leading to the attack, 5 million Americans are killed.

Each of these “limited” nuclear attack scenarios kills millions of Americans — many, many times the 1.2 million killed in all the wars in our nation’s history. Do we want to entertain limited nuclear war as a realistic possibility? Do we believe nuclear war could be limited to “only” a few million casualties? Do we trust the professional strategic planners who prepare our possible nuclear responses to an adversary’s threats? What level of nuclear preparedness do we need to deter attack?

All-Out Nuclear War

Whether from escalation of a limited nuclear conflict or as an outright full-scale attack, an all-out nuclear war remains possible as long as nuclear nations have hundreds to thousands of weapons aimed at one another. What would be the consequences of all-out nuclear war?

Within individual target cities, conditions described earlier for single explosions would prevail. (Most cities, though, would likely be targeted with multiple weapons.) Government estimates suggest that over half of the United States’ population could be killed by the prompt effects of an all-out nuclear war. For those within the appropriate radii of destruction, it would make little difference whether theirs was an isolated explosion or part of a war. But for the survivors in the less damaged areas, the difference could be dramatic.

Consider the injured. Thermal flash burns extend well beyond the 5-psi radius of destruction. A single nuclear explosion might produce 10,000 cases of severe burns requiring specialized medical treatment; in an all-out war there could be several million such cases. Yet the United States has facilities to treat fewer than 2,000 burn cases — virtually all of them in urban areas that would be leveled by nuclear blasts. Burn victims who might be saved, had their injuries resulted from some isolated cause, would succumb in the aftermath of nuclear war. The same goes for fractures, lacerations, missing limbs, crushed skulls, punctured lungs, and myriad other injuries suffered as a result of nuclear blast. Where would be the doctors, the hospitals, the medicines, the equipment needed for their treatment? Most would lie in ruin, and those that remained would be inadequate to the overwhelming numbers of injured. Again, many would die whom modern medicine could normally save.

A single nuclear explosion might produce 10,000 cases of severe burns requiring specialized medical treatment; in an all-out war there could be several million such cases.

In an all-out war, lethal fallout would cover much of the United States. Survivors could avoid fatal radiation exposure only when sheltered with adequate food, water, and medical supplies. Even then, millions would be exposed to radiation high enough to cause lowered disease resistance and greater incidence of subsequent fatal cancer. Lowered disease resistance could lead to death from everyday infections in a population deprived of adequate medical facilities. And the spread of diseases from contaminated water supplies, nonexistent sanitary facilities, lack of medicines, and the millions of dead could reach epidemic proportions. Small wonder that the international group Physicians for Social Responsibility has called nuclear war “the last epidemic.”

war destruction essay

Attempts to contain damage to cities, suburbs, and industries would suffer analogously to the treatment of injured people. Firefighting equipment, water supplies, electric power, heavy equipment, fuel supplies, and emergency communications would be gone. Transportation into and out of stricken cities would be blocked by debris. The scarcity of radiation-monitoring equipment and of personnel trained to operate it would make it difficult to know where emergency crews could safely work. Most of all, there would be no healthy neighboring cities to call on for help; all would be crippled in an all-out war.

Is Nuclear War Survivable?

We’ve noted that more than half the United States’ population might be killed outright in an all-out nuclear war. What about the survivors?

Recent studies have used detailed three-dimensional, block-by-block urban terrain models to study the effects of 10-kiloton detonations on Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. The results settle an earlier controversy about whether survivors should evacuate or shelter in place: Staying indoors for 48 hours after a nuclear blast is now recommended. That time allows fallout levels to decay by a factor of 100. Furthermore, buildings between a survivor and the blast can block the worst of the fallout, and going deep inside an urban building can lower fallout levels still further. The same shelter-in-place arguments apply to survivors in the non-urban areas blanketed by fallout.

These new studies, however, consider only single detonations as might occur in a terrorist or rogue attack. In considering all-out nuclear war, we have to ask a further question: Then what?

Individuals might survive for a while, but what about longer term, and what about society as a whole? Extreme and cooperative efforts would be needed for long-term survival, but would the shocked and weakened survivors be up to those efforts? How would individuals react to watching their loved ones die of radiation sickness or untreated injuries? Would an “everyone for themselves” attitude prevail, preventing the cooperation necessary to rebuild society? How would residents of undamaged rural areas react to the streams of urban refugees flooding their communities? What governmental structures could function in the postwar climate? How could people know what was happening throughout the country? Would international organizations be able to cope?

Staying indoors for 48 hours after a nuclear blast is now recommended. That time allows fallout levels to decay by a factor of 100.

Some students of nuclear war see postwar society in a race against time. An all-out war would have destroyed much of the nation’s productive capacity and would have killed many of the experts who could help guide social and physical reconstruction. The war also would have destroyed stocks of food and other materials needed for survival.

On the other hand, the remaining supplies would have to support only the much smaller postwar population. The challenge to the survivors would be to establish production of food and other necessities before the supplies left from before the war were exhausted. Could the war-shocked survivors, their social and governmental structure shattered, meet that challenge? That is a very big nuclear question — so big that it’s best left unanswered, since only an all-out nuclear war could decide it definitively.

Climatic Effects

A large-scale nuclear war would pump huge quantities of chemicals and dust into the upper atmosphere. Humanity was well into the nuclear age before scientists took a good look at the possible consequences of this. What they found was not reassuring.

The upper atmosphere includes a layer enhanced in ozone gas, an unusual form of oxygen that vigorously absorbs the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation. In the absence of this ozone layer , more ultraviolet radiation would reach Earth’s surface, with a variety of harmful effects. A nuclear war would produce huge quantities of ozone-consuming chemicals, and studies suggest that even a modest nuclear exchange would result in unprecedented increases in ultraviolet exposure. Marine life might be damaged by the increased ultraviolet radiation, and humans could receive blistering sunburns. More UV radiation would also lead to a greater incidence of fatal skin cancers and to general weakening of the human immune system.

Even more alarming is the fact that soot from the fires of burning cities after a nuclear exchange would be injected high into the atmosphere. A 1983 study by Richard Turco, Carl Sagan, and others (the so-called TTAPS paper) shocked the world with the suggestion that even a modest nuclear exchange — as few as 100 warheads — could trigger drastic global cooling as airborne soot blocked incoming sunlight. In its most extreme form, this nuclear winter hypothesis raised the possibility of extinction of the human species. (This is not the first dust-induced extinction pondered by science. Current thinking holds that the dinosaurs went extinct as a result of climate change brought about by atmospheric dust from an asteroid impact; indeed, that hypothesis helped prompt the nuclear winter research.)

The original nuclear winter study used a computer model that was unsophisticated compared to present-day climate models, and it spurred vigorous controversy among atmospheric scientists. Although not the primary researcher on the publication, Sagan lent his name in order to publicize the work. Two months before Science would publish the paper, he decided to introduce the results in the popular press. This backfired, as Sagan was derided by hawkish physicists like Edward Teller who had a stake in perpetuating the myth that nuclear war could be won and the belief that a missile defense system could protect the United States from nuclear attack. Teller called Sagan an “excellent propagandist” and suggested that the concept of nuclear winter was “highly speculative.” The damage was done, and many considered the nuclear winter phenomenon discredited.

But research on nuclear winter continued. Recent studies with modern climate models show that an all-out nuclear war between the United States and Russia, even with today’s reduced arsenals, could put over 150 million tons of smoke and soot into the upper atmosphere. That’s roughly the equivalent of all the garbage the U.S. produces in a year! The result would be a drop in global temperature of some 8°C (more than the difference between today’s temperature and the depths of the last ice age), and even after a decade the temperature would have recovered only 4°C. In the world’s “breadbasket” agricultural regions, the temperature could remain below freezing for a year or more, and precipitation would drop by 90 percent. The effect on the world’s food supply would be devastating.

Even a much smaller nuclear exchange could have catastrophic climate consequences. The research cited above also suggests that a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, involving 100 Hiroshima-sized weapons, would shorten growing seasons and threaten annual monsoon rains, jeopardizing the food supply of a billion people. The image below shows the global picture one month after this hypothetical 100-warhead nuclear exchange.

war destruction essay

Nuclear weapons have devastating effects. Destructive blast effects extend miles from the detonation point of a typical nuclear weapon, and lethal fallout may blanket communities hundreds of miles downwind of a single nuclear explosion. An all-out nuclear war would leave survivors with few means of recovery, and could lead to a total breakdown of society. Fallout from an all-out war would expose most of the belligerent nations’ surviving populations to radiation levels ranging from harmful to fatal. And the effects of nuclear war would extend well beyond the warring nations, possibly including climate change severe enough to threaten much of the planet’s human population.

Debate about national and global effects of nuclear war continues, and the issues are unlikely to be decided conclusively without the unfortunate experiment of an actual nuclear war. But enough is known about nuclear war’s possible effects that there is near universal agreement on the need to avoid them. As the great science communicator and astronomer Carl Sagan once said, “It’s elementary planetary hygiene to clean the world of these nuclear weapons.” But can we eliminate nuclear weapons? Should we? What risks might such elimination entail? Those are the real issues in the ongoing debates about the future of nuclear weaponry.

Richard Wolfson is Benjamin F. Wissler Professor of Physics at Middlebury College. Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress is Scientist-in-Residence at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. This article is excerpted from their book “ Nuclear Choices for the Twenty-First Century: A Citizen’s Guide. “

air burst A nuclear explosion detonated at an altitude—typically, thousands of feet—that maximizes blast damage. Because its fireball never touches the ground, an air burst produces less radioactive fallout than a ground burst.

blast wave An abrupt jump in air pressure that propagates outward from a nuclear explosion, damaging or destroying whatever it encounters.

direct radiation Nuclear radiation produced in the actual detonation of a nuclear weapon and constituting the most immediate effect on the surrounding environment.

electromagnetic pulse (EMP) An intense burst of radio waves produced by a high-altitude nuclear explosion, capable of damaging electronic equipment over thousands of miles.

fallout Radioactive material, mostly fission products, released into the environment by nuclear explosions.

fireball A mass of air surrounding a nuclear explosion and heated to luminous temperatures.

firestorm A massive fire formed by coalescence of numerous smaller fires.

ground burst A nuclear explosion detonated at ground level, producing a crater and significant fallout but less widespread damage than an air burst.

nuclear difference Phrase we use to describe the roughly million-fold difference in energy released in nuclear reactions versus chemical reactions.

nuclear winter A substantial reduction in global temperature that might result from soot injected into the atmosphere during a nuclear war.

overpressure Excess air pressure encountered in the blast wave of a nuclear explosion. Overpressure of a few pounds per square inch is sufficient to destroy typical wooden houses.

radius of destruction The distance from a nuclear blast within which destruction is near total, often taken as the zone of 5-pound-per-square-inch overpressure.

thermal flash An intense burst of heat radiation in the seconds following a nuclear explosion. The thermal flash of a large weapon can ignite fires and cause third-degree burns tens of miles from the explosion.

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An Anniversary of Destruction, Loss, and Bravery in Ukraine

By Joshua Yaffa

A road sign with numerous holes in it outside of Kyiv Ukraine

Nastya Stanko is among Ukraine’s most revered war reporters, with an onscreen persona that comes off as assured, competent, and intrepid, in the best tradition of frontline journalists. She is rarely deterred by danger, and yet, at times, she is also charmingly awkward in the ways of war. Not long ago, on a shoot near the front lines in the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine, she tried to climb atop a Ukrainian mobile artillery system, and repeatedly slipped off. “Shit, I can’t get on this thing!” she shrieked, as soldiers tried to hoist her up.

Over the summer, while walking through a wooded section of the “gray zone”—territory that lies between Ukrainian and Russian positions, controlled by neither side—she asked if she could hold the hand of the Ukrainian general who was showing her the front. Artillery exploded in the distance, shaking the trees. “I’m scared. This way I feel safer,” Stanko said. The general, in camouflage, with a Kalashnikov swinging in his right hand, joked that his wife would be upset when she saw the footage. “Don’t worry,” Stanko replied. “I have a husband at home. He’ll understand.” Later, she told the audience at a journalism conference that this wasn’t a reportorial trick; it was the only thing she could think to do to calm herself.

In 2021, Stanko stepped down from Hromadske, an independent media channel, where she was the editor-in-chief, to spend more time with her newborn son, Ostap, who was six months old. But, when Russia invaded, last February, Stanko, who was living in Kyiv , brought Ostap to her parents’ house in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in western Ukraine, and returned to the capital the next day. She was the only Hromadske journalist remaining in the city. She and her husband, Illia, a software developer who had formerly been a cameraman for the channel, started filming: the eerily empty streets, the train station jammed with fleeing families, the scores of ordinary people clamoring to join the Territorial Defense Forces. Stanko is back, viewers exclaimed. What they really wanted was reassurance that Kyiv was still standing. Stanko stood in front of city hall. The metro worked, she said. So did cash machines.

Nastya Stanko sitting at a table resting her hand on her hea

This February, in advance of the war’s first anniversary, I met up with Stanko in Ivano-Frankivsk, an atmospheric city with Polish and Austro-Hungarian roots, in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. She grew up in town, born to a family of patriotic Ukrainian speakers, who knew firsthand the suffering inflicted by Moscow’s imperialism—her father’s parents each spent a decade in the Gulag . Ivano-Frankivsk has remained relatively unscathed by the war. In November, Stanko and Illia rented a small apartment, with Ostap, on the outskirts of town.

Stanko’s life is now split in two: in Ivano-Frankivsk, she takes Ostap to feed the ducks at a nearby lake and stops for coffee at a café opened by recent arrivals from Kharkiv ; at the front, where she often spends a week or more, she treks through mud, weighed down by a flak jacket, and waits out shelling in a bunker with Ukrainian troops. At least four soldiers whom Stanko has featured in her reporting were later killed. Two close friends have died.

Death seems everywhere these days, Stanko said. On New Year’s Eve, she stopped into a church service in Ivano-Frankivsk, where she learned that the brother of Ostap’s nanny, who had been drafted into the Ukrainian Army, had just been killed. “I stood there in shock, thinking to myself, Another one—how can this be?” She struggled to reconcile the loss with the festive atmosphere—the feeling, as she put it, that “death is sitting with you at the holiday table.” But she also knew, better than most, that “right now, we have no other life, no other reality.”

Since the start of the war, I have travelled from the capital to Kharkiv, a historically Russian-speaking city that has faced relentless rocket and artillery fire; from the decimated towns of the Donbas to Zaporizhzhia, a regional capital in the south that became a waystation for Ukrainians fleeing the horrors of Mariupol and elsewhere. In early February, I wanted to check in with people I had met along the way, to get a sense of how a year of war has, for so many in Ukraine, imparted great trauma and loss but also a sense of purpose and identity.

For many Ukrainians, the mere fact that the war is entering its second year is unignorable proof that a quick victory isn’t going to materialize. The fight shows little sign of ending soon, and, if two years, why not three, or four? For all its inefficiencies, Russia’s military draft, announced by Vladimir Putin last September, has had an effect on the battlefield. The kind of relatively easy and rapid counter-offensive that Ukraine mounted last September to take back territory in the Kharkiv region is unlikely to be repeated; meanwhile, the Russian Army is able to throw men and equipment at a renewed push in the Donbas.

As of late January, the Kyiv School of Economics put the total damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure at nearly a hundred and thirty billion dollars. In many places in the country, the war is physically distant, felt less through missile or artillery attacks than through cuts to electricity and heat. At any given moment, millions of households are without power, as the state energy provider has been forced to institute rolling blackouts in response to Russian strikes on power plants and substations .

President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine’s military leaders are hesitant to make public the scale of losses on the battlefield, but the toll is surely enormous. Last November, Mark Milley , the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated that as many as a hundred thousand Ukrainian soldiers had been killed or wounded by that point in the war. Given that Ukraine’s most promising, energetic, and patriotic young people were among the first to volunteer to fight, their names have been overrepresented among the dead. “This war is consuming the best of our people,” Nataliya Gumenyuk, a Ukrainian journalist, said on the occasion of the death of Roman Ratushny, a prominent twenty-four-year-old activist who was killed on the front in June.

In Kyiv, I had dinner with a friend, Tanya Logacheva, and her parents, Yuriy and Raisa. They are from Luhansk, a city in the east that has been occupied since 2014. This is their second Russian invasion, they darkly joke. Logacheva is thirty-six, with a background in marketing, but also with interests in photography, dance, and wine. “It’s the stolen time that pisses me off,” she said over a spread of roasted duck and potatoes that Raisa had prepared for us. “All the things I could have done, the life I could have lived.”

Instead, Logacheva said, the past year was defined by a single necessity: “survival.” The electricity and Internet go out; she starts a meeting or a work call, only to have an air-raid siren sound. The thought of making any long-term plans is laughable. Logacheva and her parents were resolute, insisting that these challenges would end only with Ukraine’s victory, however ultimately defined. Life, in the meantime, was exhausting. “It’s good to survive,” Logacheva went on. “You don’t know how much you enjoy it until you realize you might not.”

On trips to Kyiv, I often visited Goodwine, a gourmet emporium the size of a big-box store, with an in-house bakery and a coffee bar. On March 3rd, a Russian missile struck its main warehouse outside Kyiv, incinerating an estimated fifteen million euros’ worth of inventory. But Goodwine never shut down completely. I visited the store in early April, as life was returning to the capital, and marvelled at the refrigerator case full of buffalo mozzarella and rows of imported chocolate bars. It was a relief, both disorienting and pleasurable, to find myself transported to a world of such banal hedonism. How could anything dangerous or terrible happen here?

Early on the morning of October 17th , an Iranian-produced kamikaze drone, a style of weapon that Russia had apparently been using to target energy infrastructure in Kyiv, slammed into an apartment building on Zhylianska Street. It was presumably meant to hit a neighboring thermal power plant, but overshot, exploding in a flash of brick and steel. Several floors of the building collapsed. Among those at home was Viktoriia Zamchenko, a thirty-four-year-old sommelier who worked at Goodwine. She and her husband, Bohdan, were both killed. Zamchenko was several months pregnant with their first child.

I instantly recognized Zamchenko’s face when the news of her death began making the rounds. “Today is a very dark day,” Goodwine wrote in a post. “We loved Vika madly. And surely you did, too.” By then, I had met or interviewed a handful of soldiers who later died in battle, but this felt different. Zamchenko was an eminently familiar and recognizable peer, a young woman who worked in a wine shop and once helped me choose a suitable Pinot Noir. Logacheva, my friend in Kyiv, had once attended a wine tasting led by Zamchenko; she remarked that Zamchenko’s killing was yet another reminder that, by this stage in the war, “death was one or two handshakes away.”

I sat in Goodwine’s café with Borys Tarasenko, a fellow-sommelier. He told me of his first impressions of Zamchenko: “She was strong, independent, precise.” Zamchenko, with a shoulder-length bob of brown hair and a wide smile, came from a small town in the Rivne region of Ukraine, about two hundred miles from the capital, and was a self-taught oenophile. “She was never satisfied with the answer ‘I don’t know,’ ” Roman Remeev, the head of the store’s wine department, said. “She wanted to find out everything for herself.” She developed her own sensibility. “She loved strong wine,” Remeev said. “Clean, classic, strict.”

Like many other Goodwine employees, Zamchenko left Kyiv at the start of the invasion, returning home with Bohdan. In July, she came back. “Everyone was happy to see one another,” Remeev said. “We asked, ‘Where were you? How was it for you?’ No one thought about anything bad.” Zamchenko said she was pregnant.

A row of buildings in Kyiv Ukraine one is completely destroyed.

That October, Kyiv was getting hit with regular air strikes; Zamchenko was conscientious about always leaving the store during an air-raid alert and heading to a nearby metro station, which doubled as a bomb shelter. “She always tried to reason with us,” Tarasenko recalled. “ ‘Come on. Let’s go wait out the siren somewhere safe.’ ”

The members of the wine department have their own group chat, where, on the morning of October 17th, they shared news of yet another strike. Everyone checked in—except Zamchenko. Someone wrote that it looked like the damage was in Vika’s neighborhood. There had already been a close call some weeks before, when another drone meant for the power station exploded in the street in front of Zamchenko’s apartment. “I started to get worried in a serious way,” Tarasenko said.

He and a colleague from Goodwine went to the building. All that Tarasenko could see was emergency workers sifting through rubble. But a video that surfaced on social media showed the bodies of Viktoriia and Bohdan, along with their cat. Remeev sent a message to the group chat. “Unfortunately our worst expectations have been confirmed,” he wrote. “Vika is no longer with us.”

Tarasenko accompanied Zamchenko’s mother to the morgue. An official stepped outside to tell her she could come identify her daughter’s body. “You could see all her hopes collapse,” Tarasenko said. When I asked him how he feels now, he replied, “Empty.” He told me of a favorite saying of Zamchenko’s: “Enough feeling sorry for yourself.” He said, “I have to repeat this phrase to myself a lot these days.”

In the coming weeks, Goodwine will release a special collection of bottles from a vineyard in the Carpathian Mountains, in western Ukraine; the collection is called Victoria. Remeev, the head sommelier, told me, “However strange, I can’t say I have destructive feelings. If anything, I want to be strong, to create, produce.”

Before I left Goodwine, Tarasenko wanted to emphasize a final point. “What happened to Vika is not a coincidence, or a natural disaster,” he said. “It’s not like a tree fell on her apartment or the building collapsed in an accident.” This was something different. “It’s murder,” he went on. “They killed this person.” That, he said, is what’s happening in Ukraine: “the purposeful destruction of an entire people.”

Last spring, Stanko had been trying to put me in touch with a friend of hers, a Ukrainian soldier named Vitaliy Derekh, who was the commander of an anti-tank unit then operating in the Donbas. Russia was using an advantage in heavy artillery to grind down Ukrainian positions, inching forward a few feet at a time. Maybe I could pay Derekh a visit near the front , Stanko suggested. But then Stanko wrote again to say that Derekh was dead. He was thirty-four, a former journalist, a well-known and widely liked local activist, scouting leader, and paramedic in his native Ternopil, in western Ukraine. In 2014, he volunteered to fight against Russia-backed proxy militias in the Donbas; after the invasion last February, he reënlisted.

I spoke with two other members of Derekh’s unit, who went by the call signs Poppy and Greek. They described a battle, near the city of Popasna, in which a Russian armored personnel carrier bore down on a group of Ukrainian soldiers, firing its large-calibre cannon. Two were killed, and another seven wounded, before Derekh fired an anti-tank missile, blowing up the vehicle. A couple of days later, he spotted a column of three Russian troop carriers on the move, preparing for a new attack. He fired, destroying them, slowing the assault. Then a Russian fighter jet streaked across the sky and launched a missile that slammed directly into Derekh’s hideout. He was killed instantly. “You can be brave and experienced and know what to do in every situation,” Greek told me. “But Fortuna also decides a lot.”

Several months went by. Ukraine lost more cities in the Donbas, even as it went on to recapture others. In late September, I got a message from Stanko. Greek was dead. He had been in a forward position near Bakhmut, a city in the Donbas that was weathering the bulk of the Russian onslaught. A day after Greek and nine soldiers under his command arrived to replace another unit, a shell landed directly in their dugout. The explosion blew out the concrete blocks meant to secure the position, and they collapsed on top of Greek. It was impossible to retrieve his body; the debris weighed several tons, and the area was now under the control of Russian forces.

I spoke again with Poppy, who is in his mid-thirties. Like Derekh and Greek, he had fought in the first Donbas war, and later he took a job as a forklift operator at a factory in Estonia. On February 26th, he returned to Ukraine, asking to be deployed.

Early on, Poppy said, his reconnaissance unit was scouting the locations of Russian troops near the village of Motyzhyn, twenty-five miles from the capital. He had taken up a position on the edge of town, balancing a machine gun behind a tree, when a young girl from the village approached him. She offered him a plate of fresh bliny . “I yelled at her, ‘Get out of here. The Russians are eight hundred metres away,’ ” Poppy recalled. The girl said she would leave only if he took the pancakes. “How do you not want to fight for such people?” he said. “I understood then that I had not come in vain to defend my country.”

Poppy was now the commander of a platoon with nearly a hundred soldiers. They had just been rotated out of Bakhmut and sent to the Kharkiv region, to an area close to the Russian border. The fight in Bakhmut had been tough, he said. It felt as if Russian munitions were endless, a wall of fire that went on uninterrupted for days. The same could be said for Russian manpower—the assaults came in waves of ten to twenty fighters. “We cut them to pieces, but they don’t care, they just keep coming.” At the same time, he said, “they are learning.” The attacks were becoming cleverer, more thought out. Smaller units were replacing larger columns; ground forces were coördinating their movements with artillery units and airpower.

Four Ukrainian soldiers two sitting and two standing in a home

One morning not long ago, I drove out to the village where Poppy and his men are stationed, a snow-mottled pastoral, with compact houses emitting thin wisps of smoke from their chimneys. Poppy brought me inside and poured me tea. Soldiers from his unit came in and out, their radios buzzing. Artillery fire rattled in the distance, but I was the only one who seemed to notice. Poppy pointed out two soldiers who looked to be in their twenties, who had been with Greek when he died. “When the shell hit, I just lay there for a minute,” one told me. “I couldn’t move or think or even see. I just saw yellow light.”

I asked Poppy how this year of war has changed him. He has suffered four concussions, he said. “I feel myself becoming more aggressive, unstable, harsh. There are times when everything upsets me.” He told me of a time when, after continuous artillery fire, a soldier under his command jumped out of the trench and started to run away. “His psyche couldn’t take any more,” Poppy said. Another soldier from the unit went home for leave and, suffering from a mental breakdown, checked himself into a hospital.

Poppy doesn’t hide his own exhaustion from his soldiers. “I tell them I also don’t want to do this,” he said. “I don’t like this job. I don’t need such a life. But I can’t just walk away.” He feels a patriotic duty toward the Ukrainian nation, but, in war, that can feel like an abstraction. More urgent, he explained, was the need to protect the soldiers in his unit. “However sad and terrible it sounds, I’m here to kill the enemy first, so that he doesn’t kill my brother-in-arms.”

War, Poppy said, is a “dirty business, dishonest and unjust.” He has three children; two are in Kyiv, a third is in Poland. He’d like them to live in a peaceful, civilized, and democratic country. The cruel tragedy, he said, is that friends like Derekh and Greek, two young men, vital and creative, in the prime of their lives, had to fight and die for what should be a given. “These guys were simply excellent, full of positivity,” he said. “They should have returned home and kept on making life better for everyone around them.” When he’s at the front, Poppy tries to avoid such thoughts. “Anguish, grief—even anger—somehow they get in the way,” he said. I left as the sun was low in the sky, casting a spectral light over the snowy fields. Before I drove off, Poppy pulled a patch from his uniform and handed it to me. It read “Born to be free.”

Recently, I headed to Chernihiv, a city near the Belarusian border, in northern Ukraine. I had last been there in April, shortly after Russia pulled back its forces from the region and lifted a thirty-nine-day siege of the city. Residents were beginning to emerge from their basements to take stock of the damage around them. I visited an apartment block on Viacheslava Chornovola Street that had been hit with thousand-pound unguided bombs; its façade was ripped open, leaving a doll-house-like view to people’s kitchens and living rooms. Forty-seven people had been killed. During the siege, a makeshift grave site popped up near a patch of forest, the dead marked by row after row of dirt mounds and wooden placards.

Now families in Chernihiv were out enjoying a snowy Sunday afternoon, going for strolls along an embankment overlooking the Desna River and sledding down the hill in front of St. Catherine’s Cathedral. At the office of a local N.G.O., I met with Halyna Kalinina, a volunteer who was responsible for taking statements from residents of the villages around Chernihiv that had been occupied by Russian forces in the spring, creating a record of Russian abuses and alleged war crimes. She told me that she often stops the recording during her interviews so that her subjects can weep or simply sit in silence. “We talk, then pause, then talk some more,” she said. “In this way, we slowly break down their trauma.”

Kalinina told me of a woman who, during Russia’s occupation, opened her front door to see a haggard and bloody young man wearing a woman’s coat. The man was from a neighboring village, where a number of Russian military vehicles had come under fire and were destroyed. Russian soldiers in the village decided that the man and his two brothers were responsible. They marched them to the forest, forced them to dig a shallow grave, then opened fire. The brothers were killed instantly; the man at the woman’s doorstep was hit in the ear and cheek but survived. He lay in the grave until the soldiers left, then crawled out and took off running, finding a stranger’s coat along the way.

Another villager told Kalinina of her son, in his thirties, who was detained by Russian troops. Days later, he returned home and relayed how he was hung upside down by his legs and beaten for hours at a time. Kalinina has a son, also in his thirties, in Kharkiv. “The whole time I was listening, I was trying this story on for myself, imagining my own son, how I would feel,” she said. “It gets hard to sleep.”

Halyna Kalinina sitting at a table with a laptop and other items on top of it

I first met Kalinina in Shchastia, a town of eleven thousand people in the Donbas, whose name means “happiness.” The day I visited, last February 23rd, Russian forces were already firing Grad rockets at the local coal-fuelled power plant, knocking out the electricity and shutting off the water. When I stopped by Kalinina’s apartment, she had just returned from the courtyard, where she filled up plastic jugs at the communal well. Kalinina, who was in her fifties, considered herself a pro-Ukrainian patriot, which was conspicuous in Shchastia, where pro-Russian sympathies were not uncommon—a symptom of the town’s post-industrial decline, which bred not so much a fondness for modern Russia but a nostalgia for the Soviet past. “People were suffering from a kind of euphoria of youth,” Kalinina said.

Kalinina had fled Shchastia the morning after we met. She briefly ended up in Kyiv, before travelling onward to Lviv, in western Ukraine. She had a room in a dormitory and was spending her days at a volunteer hub, where she distributed clothes, medicines, and other supplies to families fleeing cities under heavy bombardment. Shchastia was occupied. A concert had been held in the local house of culture to celebrate its return to Russian control. Kalinina told me that she spent her first weeks away from the town crying—in her room, at the supermarket, even while getting her hair cut. “I don’t cry anymore,” she told me. “I want to give other people their turn.”

On a recent fact-finding trip, Kalinina heard of three local men who were led away by Russian troops. Later, after Russian forces pulled out, their bodies were found, riddled with bullet holes, in a neighboring village. “You travel around and realize there is an ocean of such stories,” she said. “They simply never end.” The villages in the Chernihiv region were occupied relatively briefly, not much longer than a month. Even so, ten months later, Kalinina said that she and her colleagues have documented only a fraction of the atrocities. “Imagine,” she said, “what we will learn when we finally make it back to Shchastia.”

Stanko doesn’t like subjects who are too obviously heroic. Instead, she prefers the ordinary, middle-aged guys, with stubble and soft bellies that push against their uniforms, like the members of a tank crew she visited in the woods outside Bakhmut. “They were in their fifties, not showing off at all, just doing their job, like it’s not a big deal,” she said. They made coffee on a propane stove and ate piroshki with apples, telling jokes and sharing war stories, then reloaded the tank and fired one round after another, the ground shaking with each shot. “I sat there and thought how lucky I am to sit next to such people, to observe and listen.”

In November, Stanko was among the first journalists to make it into Kherson, a city in the south that was liberated after eight months of Russian occupation. She got lucky. Her car was waved past one checkpoint, then another. She came across what looked like a non-stop party in Kherson’s central square: a crowd was singing, dancing, honking the horns of their cars. At one point, a woman wrapped her arms around Stanko in the middle of an interview. “There I was, standing in the central square of Kherson, jumping out of happiness,” Stanko told me. “I had this feeling that it all worked out. I captured these emotions as they were just unfolding.” The Ukrainian military’s press office revoked her accreditation for entering Kherson without permission, but reinstated it some days later. “The knowledge that you managed something that others didn’t,” Stanko told me, “of course, it’s a rush.”

Stanko and I spoke about this thrill, of getting to where you’re not supposed to be, of capturing a moment of raw, unfiltered humanity, which is all the more exciting because it is so fleeting. “After a year, it’s hard to find the reason why I keep doing this,” Stanko said. There is no shortage of journalists at the front; if she doesn’t film Ukrainian soldiers, someone else will. “But my brain tells me I have to go,” she told me. “Put simply, it’s interesting. I want to be there, in the place where it’s really happening, to ask questions, to know firsthand.”

Another motivation, Stanko went on, is one closer to guilt. Why isn’t she doing more—she’s considered joining the army as a combat medic—and why does she complain about temporary discomfort or fright when those at the front face much worse? She told me of a trip to visit a unit of soldiers from Ivano-Frankivsk who were stationed in the Donbas. She set off from Kharkiv before dawn, driving through an icy rain. Her car nearly got stuck in the mud. The dugout where the troops spent most of their time had a leaky roof. Water dripped on Stanko, freezing her even more. “It’s cold here,” she remarked. “Pretty unpleasant, I guess?” The soldiers looked at her, mystified. No, they said—everything is fine. What’s there to complain about?

Ukrainian soliders walk along a dirt road in the Donbas region of Ukraine

In May, Stanko was in Lyman, a city under constant bombardment, filming a police unit responsible for evacuating civilians. A woman relayed that her twenty-one-year-old son, Artem, had been hit in the head by shrapnel. He had been lying at home in his own blood for five days. Emergency services had refused to send an ambulance; the shelling was too intense. A police officer named Maksym volunteered for the mission. “No one wanted to go there, and no one would have said a thing or judged him if he didn’t,” Stanko said. Maksym and a couple of officers sped off in a jeep. They found Artem—his head wrapped in a makeshift bandage, his eyes distant and glazed—and drove him out, artillery rumbling the whole way. “In that moment, I realized I had just witnessed something unbelievable and heroic,” Stanko said. She and her cameraman stood in silence, with tears in their eyes. Artem survived and is now rehabilitating in Germany.

On a recent trip to the front, Stanko stopped by a hospital in the Donbas, where she met a soldier who had pulled out of Soledar, a city that fell to Russian forces in January. He told Stanko that, out of a platoon of thirty soldiers, he and one other were left in fighting shape. Still, Stanko said, like nearly all of the soldiers she’s met over the past year, he was bound by an unflinching sense of duty. “If they aren’t there to fight, the front will move further and further until we have no country left,” she said. “Even if they’re tired, even if they don’t want to be there anymore—they know they have to be.” She couldn’t ignore what felt like a personal implication in that truth. “And, if they have to be, why don’t I?” ♦

More on the War in Ukraine

How Ukrainians saved their capital .

A historian envisions a settlement among Russia, Ukraine, and the West .

How Russia’s latest commander in Ukraine could change the war .

The profound defiance of daily life in Kyiv .

The Ukraine crackup in the G.O.P.

A filmmaker’s journey to the heart of the war .

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Friday essay: war crimes and the many threats to cultural heritage

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Professor in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, The University of Queensland

Disclosure statement

Ian Lilley is an archaeologist with the University of Queensland. He occasionally consults through UQ and privately to Rio Tinto and other clients and through his university superannuation scheme may own shares in Rio Tinto and similar companies. He currently receives research funding from the Australian Research Council and the Swiss government Network for International Studies. He is affiliated with ICOMOS, IUCN, and a variety of archaeological professional bodies which deal with cultural heritage matters, in particular in this instance the Society for American Archaeology's Committee for International Government Affairs. In this last role he coordinated international professional responses to the World Bank safeguards review and participated in the launch of the Antiquities Coalition Taskforce Report on “Culture under Threat”.

University of Queensland provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Recently, the International Criminal Court sentenced a Malian militant to nine years’ jail for his role in destroying heritage sites in Timbuktu . The conviction was the first of its kind. Will other such cases follow, dealing with the destruction of priceless artefacts at Palmrya in Syria or in other war zones?

And what, more broadly, is the fate of our cultural heritage in an age driven by the imperative of continual global economic growth? Are wartime atrocities the chief threat to cultural heritage? Or is it, in fact, everyday development in a rapacious world?

The ICC case concerned the destruction of World Heritage sites in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012, by al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist insurgents. The former militant, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, admitted that he had directed the destruction of 14 holy 15th and 16th-century mausoleums considered blasphemous by the Islamists. The presiding judge, Raul Pangalangan, described targeting Timbuktu’s cultural patrimony as

a war activity aimed at breaking the soul of the people.

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Of course since time immemorial, people have been destroying and looting other people’s places and stuff – what we’d now call cultural heritage – through both hostilities and ostensibly peaceful “development”. You can see the evidence all over the world, in cityscapes, museum collections and even whole landscapes as much as in specific archaeological sites.

In recent years, though, the link between extremism and the looting of cultural heritage has become more pronounced. Blood antiquities fund conflict, just like blood diamonds. In April, the Antiquities Coalition in Washington DC launched a report Culture under Threat, which contained a set of recommendations to the US Government concerning the nexus between looting and violent extremism. The panel included various heritage professionals, ambassadors and the like, but also people from the intelligence and Special Forces communities.

Some of their evidence was jaw-dropping, such as the ISIS paperwork regarding looting permits for Palmyra. Not only were there the permits themselves, which authorised looting by so-and-so in area such-and-such, but there were also applications for extensions of the permits owing to problems in moving the volume of antiquities flooding the illicit market.

These were not scrappy handwritten notes, but duly notarised printed documents on “official” letterhead. The bureaucratic banality of evil!

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The vast scale of the looting revealed was staggering too, with photographs of heavy earthmoving equipment excavating tons of archaeologically-rich deposits to be sifted through for saleable artefacts.

It’s hard to know exactly how much money ISIS and similar groups make from blood antiquities, but it’s substantial. As one of the Special Forces people said: a historically-valuable artefact may now be seen chiefly in terms of the ammunition it will buy for ISIS.

For this reason, governments around the world are starting to clamp down heavily on heritage trafficking. There’s long been some effort in that direction: the Italians, for instance, have had a specialist police unit, now known as the Carabinieri Art Squad .

These days, though, in the eyes of intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, heritage ranks right up there with arms and human trafficking, as the same extremists and criminals are frequently involved in all three. Monday it’s guns. Tuesday it’s sex slaves. Wednesday it’s blood antiquities.

While this intense focus on crime and security obviously attracts headlines, there is also a compelling link between heritage, identity and wellbeing. For instance, the Australian Government’s recently-released Australian Heritage Strategy points out that the Productivity Commission

found that reinforcement and preservation of living culture has helped to develop identity, sense of place, and build self esteem within Indigenous communities.

Such findings are not restricted to colonised minorities. This year, a department of the UK Heritage Lottery Fund released a research review of the “values and benefits of heritage”. About 70% of respondents believed that

heritage sites and buildings play an important part in how people view the places they live, how they feel and their quality of life.

In my observation, much the same would be found in Australia and most other parts of the world. In broad terms, it was concern for such matters that drove the Mali prosecution.

Heritage destruction as a war crime

The sites destroyed by the Islamists in Timbuktu included the 16th century mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud, leader of the city’s celebrated Sankore University, and the shrine of Sidi Ahmed ar-Raqqad, a scholar and Sufi mystic who wrote a treatise on traditional medicine over 400 years ago.

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Under the Rome Statute governing the International Criminal Court, war crimes include intentional targeting of historic monuments. Although this is the first time the ICC has prosecuted war crimes on this basis, its action is consistent with the various Hague conventions on war going back to the late 1800s.

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The Mali trial builds on jurisprudence developed in the Nuremburg trials after WWII and on the war-crimes prosecutions by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of those responsible for destroying cultural property in the Balkans war in the 1990s. As in the case of Mali, the cultural World Heritage status of Dubrovnik’s Old Town was a determining factor in the convictions of Yugoslav People’s Army commanders Miodrag Jokić and Pavle Strugar following their 1991 shelling of the city .

In the Mali case, concern has been expressed that the ICC’s sole focus on heritage “stuff” is misplaced and should be expanded to include matters such as torture, rape and murder.

The International Federation for Human Rights, for example, welcomed the verdict but contended that “this victory does leave something to be desired” . The Federation called upon the ICC prosecutor to continue her investigations and to prosecute the perpetrators of other crimes committed in northern Mali, in particular, sexual and gender-based ones.

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However, as Fatou Basouda, the ICC’s prosecutor, stated in September 2015 in relation to the Timbuktu case:

Let there be no mistake: the charges … involve most serious crimes; they are about the destruction of irreplaceable historic monuments, and they are about a callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations, and their religious and historical roots… It is rightly said that ‘cultural heritage is the mirror of humanity’. Such attacks affect humanity as a whole.

The importance that the prosecutor places on identity and dignity – in a word, wellbeing – is something that should focus our minds when we are discussing the place of heritage in other circumstances, even in “everyday” situations.

‘Everyday’ heritage destruction

The destruction of heritage in the course of “everyday” development, in fact, does vastly more damage than war. This is either through large-scale projects such as mines or dams, or the cumulative impact of industrial expansion and smaller-scale projects such as housing and tourism developments.

One high profile international example is the Ilisu Dam on the upper Tigris River in southeastern Turkey. The project will create a 300 square kilometre reservoir that will force the resettlement of tens of thousands of mostly Kurdish people from nearly 200 villages. The dam will also flood the extraordinary historic town of Hasankeyf, parts of which date back 12,000 years.

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Despite being declared a major national monument by Turkey in 1978, Hasankeyf was identified by Europa Nostra, Europe’s peak heritage organization, as one of Europe’s “7 Most Endangered” heritage sites in 2016. Early in the long-running campaign to save the site, Turkish government engineers dismissed heritage concerns, stating that the dam was more important to the nation than some old minarets and a few caves .

In Australia, continual damage to the rock art on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula by the ongoing development of mining infrastructure is a woeful example of heritage seemingly doomed to “death by 1,000 cuts”.

The Burrup engravings are of great cultural significance to local Indigenous people and widely regarded as one of the most important bodies of rock art in the world. As Griffith University’s Paul Taçon has written, 1,700 engraved boulders were relocated and thus decontextualised from their cultural landscape in the 1980s to make way for infrastructure for the North West Shelf gas project.

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In 2007, Woodside Petroleum started extending processing facilities for the Pluto Gas Field, having received permission from the WA Government to destroy a significant quantity of the Burrup rock art, against the advice of the government’s own statutory expert panel.

After international protests, the Burrup was then placed on Australia’s National Heritage List. Federal Environment Minister at the time – Malcolm Turnbull – nonetheless prioritised development and gave Woodside permission to destroy 200 rock art panels. The WA Government subsequently gave permission for an additional 170 panels to be relocated (and thus stripped of their cultural context).

In 2008, another company was fined under Federal law for damaging three sites on the Burrup by blasting. As a final gesture of contempt, the WA Government then rescinded the Burrup’s longstanding formal status as a sacred site in 2014. In short, despite global recognition of the value of the Burrup rock art, “everyday development” continues to trump best-practice heritage protection of the site.

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Just about every country in the world, including Australia, has legislation of some sort to protect heritage in development contexts. When development is declared imperative, though, as at Ilisu or on the Burrup, or when there are gaping loopholes in heritage legislation, such as with large-scale tree-clearing or housing development in Queensland, the damage continues unrelentingly.

Most of the sites being destroyed in Australia and around the world don’t make the news because they don’t have the monumental scale or romantic cachet of places such as Palmyra, but for the communities who value the heritage in question, the damage is heartbreaking.

While WA is resurrecting its stalled bid to water down its heritage legislation , Queensland is reviewing its Indigenous cultural heritage guidelines, in an effort to tighten things up.

At the other end of the spectrum, the World Bank is completing much the same process after some years of deliberation. The Bank has a formal global standard for cultural heritage broadly based on humanitarian considerations. Still, despite its professed concern, the Bank ranks heritage very low in its order of priorities.

This apparent lack of interest notwithstanding, it is not hard to join the dots empirically between cultural heritage and the other environmental and social standards that the Bank takes more seriously. This is particularly true of Indigenous matters.

The impact of development – and the reputational risk it poses – is understood by most major corporations, even if their execution of heritage protection procedures can be patchy. That’s why Rio Tinto worked with an international group of heritage professionals to develop its global corporate heritage protection guidelines.

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Heritage guidelines have also been developed in various parts of the world for use by the military. Peter Stone at the UK’s University of Newcastle has created what he calls “a four-tier approach to the protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict”. It is an invaluable framework and has been formally adopted by the International Committee of the Blue Shield, the “Red Cross for Heritage”.

It is one thing, though, to guide the actions of countries that aim to “play by the rules” in war, whether concerning heritage or people. It is quite another, as Stone recognises, to constrain states which have not signed up to the relevant conventions, including the 1954 Hague Convention and the statutes underpinning the International Criminal Court. The situation is even more problematical with non-state actors such as ISIS, which intentionally flout such conventions in the most dramatic and appalling ways, in relation both to people and heritage.

This is sickeningly obvious in ISIS’s approach at Palmyra. Not only is the organisation facilitating industrial-scale looting there, it has also slaughtered numerous people in the site’s amphitheatre and executed Khaled al-Asaad, the site’s 81-year-old archaeological guardian.

It is highly unlikely that anyone will be brought to justice for these murders, let alone the heritage crimes. The man found guilty for the damage in Mali was surrendered to the court not by Mali, nor the French military (in the country to quell hostilities), but by the neighbouring country of Niger, to where he had fled.

The chances that a similar transfer will occur in relation to Syria or indeed anywhere else are vanishingly small, unless key players see some advantage in making a point of presenting someone to the ICC for propaganda purposes.

Even that would require the ICC to have issued an arrest warrant, which it has not done in connection with Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or any other recent place where heritage war crimes have likely occurred.

Few clean hands

Why is this the case? It’s simple: no-one has clean hands when it comes to the destruction of cultural heritage in armed conflict. The politics of heritage are Byzantine at the best of times, but adding the possibility of war crimes convictions to the mix makes matters almost impossibly fraught.

So do I think we shouldn’t waste our time and precious resources pursuing heritage war crimes? Not at all. The lasting significance of the Mali decision (and indeed the earlier cases it builds upon) is that it sets a very useful bar.

We shouldn’t, however, now think the ICC is going to deliver us from evil. Its heritage cases will be few and far between and successful prosecutions will probably be even rarer. So while always keeping open the possibilities of action in The Hague, we should focus our minds on these points.

First, as barbaric as heritage war crimes might seem, far more heritage destruction – and thus inexorable damage to human wellbeing – occurs through everyday development. Except in a few cases, that never makes the news.

Second, as “glamorous” as Palmyra or Aleppo might be – as matters of concern – they are not the only places in Syria, much less the Middle East or for that matter the rest of the planet, where armed hostilities are destroying heritage.

war destruction essay

Highlighting the situation in Palmyra, or even Syria more generally, might help focus government and public attention on the problem of heritage destruction for a while. Yet we have to be extremely careful that such high-profile examples don’t “suck up all the oxygen” and leave other places to their own devices.

Believe me, there’s a lot of them suffering in every part of the world, whether as a result of conflict, criminal looting or “routine” development: from the unobtrusive small-scale places that make up the bulk of cultural heritage right up to World Heritage sites of the scale and grandeur of Machu Picchu or Angkor. The Trafficking Culture Project and Blue Shield Committee amongst others provide ample evidence of the pressing problem of heritage under threat.

war destruction essay

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, it is local people with local solutions who are usually best-positioned to make the most of our support – whether in Mali, Syria, Iraq or elsewhere. Joshua Hammer’s new book, The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu , for instance, shows how locals put themselves at grave risk to save priceless ancient scrolls from the same Islamist militants who destroyed the World Heritage tombs there.

What is missing in global responses to local heritage destruction is usually not generous offers to rebuild whole sites. Such offers nearly always entail imported expertise and largely exclude local people. Nor generally do we need the heritage-protection airstrikes recommended by the Antiquities Coalition. In the “fog of war”, they are highly likely to damage the very sites they are supposed to protect.

Most often, we need to recognise that relatively small amounts of money judiciously applied through appropriate local players are the way to create sustainable solutions. There are colleagues doing just that right now, through mostly under-the-radar but highly-effective efforts in war-zones such as Syria but also through programs such as the Sustainable Preservation Initiative .

In short, we need a range of responses. Some will involve “big sticks” wielded by institutions such as the ICC but most will work at the grassroots.

On a day to day level, meanwhile, we should all take an interest in what is happening to the heritage around us. If we do, we can help monitor and mitigate the way “everyday” development continually chips away at heritage places large and small, in ways that frequently go unnoticed until it is too late.

Ian Lilley will be online for an Author Q&A between 6:30 and 7:30pm AEST on Friday, 14 October, 2016. Post your questions in the comments below.

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Plan, Prepare & Make the Best Career Choices

Essay on War - A nation or organisation may turn to war to reach its goals, but what is the actual cost of progress? Countless lives have been lost to war and continue to be lost. It costs a lot of money and resources as well. Wars have always been brutal, deadly, and tragic, from the American Revolution to World Wars I and II to the Crusades and the ancient Hundred Years' War. Here are a few sample essays on "war" .

War Essay

100 Words Essay on War

The greatest destroyers of people in modern times are wars. No matter who wins a war, mankind loses in every case. Millions of people have died in battles during the past century, with World Wars I and II being the worst. Wars are typically fought to protect a nation. Whatever the motive, it is hazardous conduct that results in the loss of millions of priceless innocent lives and has dangerous impacts that even future generations will have to deal with.

The results of using nuclear bombs are catastrophic. The weapons business benefits when there is a war elsewhere in the world because it maintains its supply chain. Weapons that cause massive destruction are being made bigger and better. The only way to end wars is to raise awareness among the general public.

200 Words Essay on War

Without a doubt, war is terrible, and the most devastating thing that can happen to humans. It causes death and devastation, illness and poverty, humiliation and destruction. To evaluate the devastation caused by war, one needs to consider the havoc that was wrecked on several nations not too many years ago. A particularly frightening ability of modern wars is that they tend to become global so that they may absorb the entire world. The fact that some people view war as a great and heroic adventure that brings out the best in people does not change the fact that it is a horrible tragedy.

This is more true now that atomic weapons will be used to fight a war. War, according to some, is required. Looking at the past reveals that war has drastically changed throughout the nation's history. The destructive impacts of war have never been more prevalent in human history. We have experienced lengthy and brief wars of various kinds. There have been supporters of nonviolence and the brotherhood of man. Buddha, Christ, and Mahatma Gandhi have all lived. Despite this, war has always been fought, weapons are always used, military power has always been deployed, and there have always been armies in war.

500 Words Essay on War

If we take a closer look at human history, it will become evident that conflicts have existed ever since the primitive eras. Although efforts have been made to end it, this has not been successful so far. Thus, it appears that we are unable to achieve eternal peace. Many defend wars by claiming that nature's rules require them. Charles Darwin is placed in front of them to illustrate their point. He was the one who created the rule of the fittest. He claimed that everything in nature, whether alive or dead, is constantly engaged in a battle for survival. Only the strongest will survive in this fight. Therefore, it is believed that without battle, humankind won't be able to progress.

Impacts of War

People fail to see that war invariably results in severe damage. They ignored the nonviolent principles taught by Mahatma Gandhi, who used them to liberate his country from the shackles of slavery. They fail to consider that if Gandhi could push out the powerful Britishers without resorting to violence, why shouldn't others do the same? Wars are unavoidable calamities, and there are no words to adequately depict the vast quantity and scope of their tragedies. The atrocities of the two world wars must never be forgotten. There was tremendous murder and property devastation during the battles. There were thousands of widows and orphans. War spreads falsehoods and creates hatred. People start acting brutally selfishly. Humanity and morals suffer as a result.

War is an Enemy

War is the enemy of all humanity and human civilisation. Nothing positive can come of it. Consequently, it should never be celebrated in any way. In addition to impeding national progress, it undermines social cohesion. It slows down the rate of human progress. Wars are not the answer to the world's issues. Instead, they cause issues and generate hatred among nations. War can settle one issue but creates far too many other ones. The two most horrific examples of the war's after-effects are Hiroshima and Nagasaki. People are still enduring the effects of war 77 years later. Whatever the reason for war, it always ends in the widespread loss of human life and property.

Disadvantages of War

Massive human deaths and injuries, the depletion of financial resources, environmental degradation, lost productivity, and long-term harm to military personnel are all drawbacks of war. Families are split apart by war. Both towns and cities are destroyed by it. People become more sensitive, and every industry faces collapse. People’s health declines physically and they lose their sense of security. They won't have any security, and those who win the battle will treat the citizens of the defeated nation as their slaves and prohibit them from the right to work. After the war, there will be a lack of jobs and corruption issues for the nation to deal with.

Russia – Ukraine War

The world saw great turmoil beginning in February 2022 with the Russian-Ukraine War. Russia's invasion of Ukraine was the most serious conventional attack on a nation, bringing a severe economic crisis to the world. India has taken a neutral stance for Russia, keeping in mind the two countries' long-standing alliance, especially in its foreign policies and positive international relationships. Russia was concerned about Ukraine's security due to its intention to join NATO and invaded Ukraine in 2014. Additionally, Russia provided help to the rebels in the eastern Ukrainian districts of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has had a substantial impact on oil prices and other commodity prices, as well as increased trade uncertainty. India has economic troubles due to Western countries' supply disruptions and limited trade with Russia.

War has historically been the worst mark on humanity. Although it was made by man, it is now beyond the power of any human force. To preserve humanity, the entire human species must now reflect on this. Otherwise, neither humanity nor war will survive.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

  • Construction
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Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Geotechnical engineer

The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. 

The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions. 

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Cartographer

How fascinating it is to represent the whole world on just a piece of paper or a sphere. With the help of maps, we are able to represent the real world on a much smaller scale. Individuals who opt for a career as a cartographer are those who make maps. But, cartography is not just limited to maps, it is about a mixture of art , science , and technology. As a cartographer, not only you will create maps but use various geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse, and create different maps for political, cultural or educational purposes.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi . 

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Finance Executive

A career as a Finance Executive requires one to be responsible for monitoring an organisation's income, investments and expenses to create and evaluate financial reports. His or her role involves performing audits, invoices, and budget preparations. He or she manages accounting activities, bank reconciliations, and payable and receivable accounts.  

Investment Banker

An Investment Banking career involves the invention and generation of capital for other organizations, governments, and other entities. Individuals who opt for a career as Investment Bankers are the head of a team dedicated to raising capital by issuing bonds. Investment bankers are termed as the experts who have their fingers on the pulse of the current financial and investing climate. Students can pursue various Investment Banker courses, such as Banking and Insurance , and  Economics to opt for an Investment Banking career path.

Product Manager

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Treasury analyst career path is often regarded as certified treasury specialist in some business situations, is a finance expert who specifically manages a company or organisation's long-term and short-term financial targets. Treasurer synonym could be a financial officer, which is one of the reputed positions in the corporate world. In a large company, the corporate treasury jobs hold power over the financial decision-making of the total investment and development strategy of the organisation.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

A Team Leader is a professional responsible for guiding, monitoring and leading the entire group. He or she is responsible for motivating team members by providing a pleasant work environment to them and inspiring positive communication. A Team Leader contributes to the achievement of the organisation’s goals. He or she improves the confidence, product knowledge and communication skills of the team members and empowers them.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Individuals in the architecture career are the building designers who plan the whole construction keeping the safety and requirements of the people. Individuals in architect career in India provides professional services for new constructions, alterations, renovations and several other activities. Individuals in architectural careers in India visit site locations to visualize their projects and prepare scaled drawings to submit to a client or employer as a design. Individuals in architecture careers also estimate build costs, materials needed, and the projected time frame to complete a build.

Landscape Architect

Having a landscape architecture career, you are involved in site analysis, site inventory, land planning, planting design, grading, stormwater management, suitable design, and construction specification. Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park in New York introduced the title “landscape architect”. The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) proclaims that "Landscape Architects research, plan, design and advise on the stewardship, conservation and sustainability of development of the environment and spaces, both within and beyond the built environment". Therefore, individuals who opt for a career as a landscape architect are those who are educated and experienced in landscape architecture. Students need to pursue various landscape architecture degrees, such as  M.Des , M.Plan to become landscape architects. If you have more questions regarding a career as a landscape architect or how to become a landscape architect then you can read the article to get your doubts cleared. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Veterinary Doctor

A veterinary doctor is a medical professional with a degree in veterinary science. The veterinary science qualification is the minimum requirement to become a veterinary doctor. There are numerous veterinary science courses offered by various institutes. He or she is employed at zoos to ensure they are provided with good health facilities and medical care to improve their life expectancy.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Speech Therapist

Gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

Healthcare Social Worker

Healthcare social workers help patients to access services and information about health-related issues. He or she assists people with everything from locating medical treatment to assisting with the cost of care to recover from an illness or injury. A career as Healthcare Social Worker requires working with groups of people, individuals, and families in various healthcare settings such as hospitals, mental health clinics, child welfare, schools, human service agencies, nursing homes, private practices, and other healthcare settings.  

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Talent Agent

The career as a Talent Agent is filled with responsibilities. A Talent Agent is someone who is involved in the pre-production process of the film. It is a very busy job for a Talent Agent but as and when an individual gains experience and progresses in the career he or she can have people assisting him or her in work. Depending on one’s responsibilities, number of clients and experience he or she may also have to lead a team and work with juniors under him or her in a talent agency. In order to know more about the job of a talent agent continue reading the article.

If you want to know more about talent agent meaning, how to become a Talent Agent, or Talent Agent job description then continue reading this article.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Videographer

Careers in videography are art that can be defined as a creative and interpretive process that culminates in the authorship of an original work of art rather than a simple recording of a simple event. It would be wrong to portrait it as a subcategory of photography, rather photography is one of the crafts used in videographer jobs in addition to technical skills like organization, management, interpretation, and image-manipulation techniques. Students pursue Visual Media , Film, Television, Digital Video Production to opt for a videographer career path. The visual impacts of a film are driven by the creative decisions taken in videography jobs. Individuals who opt for a career as a videographer are involved in the entire lifecycle of a film and production. 

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story. 

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Advertising Manager

Advertising managers consult with the financial department to plan a marketing strategy schedule and cost estimates. We often see advertisements that attract us a lot, not every advertisement is just to promote a business but some of them provide a social message as well. There was an advertisement for a washing machine brand that implies a story that even a man can do household activities. And of course, how could we even forget those jingles which we often sing while working?

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Production Manager

Quality controller.

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Engineer

A career as a Production Engineer is crucial in the manufacturing industry. He or she ensures the functionality of production equipment and machinery to improve productivity and minimise production costs to drive revenues and increase profitability. 

Product Designer

Individuals who opt for a career as product designers are responsible for designing the components and overall product concerning its shape, size, and material used in manufacturing. They are responsible for the aesthetic appearance of the product. A product designer uses his or her creative skills to give a product its final outlook and ensures the functionality of the design. 

Students can opt for various product design degrees such as B.Des and M.Des to become product designers. Industrial product designer prepares 3D models of designs for approval and discusses them with clients and other colleagues. Individuals who opt for a career as a product designer estimate the total cost involved in designing.

Commercial Manager

A Commercial Manager negotiates, advises and secures information about pricing for commercial contracts. He or she is responsible for developing financial plans in order to maximise the business's profitability.

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

Information Security Manager

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Essay on War and Its Effects

Students are often asked to write an essay on War and Its Effects in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on War and Its Effects

Introduction.

War is a state of armed conflict between different countries or groups within a country. It’s a destructive event that causes loss of life and property.

The Devastation of War

Wars cause immense destruction. Buildings, homes, and infrastructure are often destroyed, leaving people homeless. The loss of resources makes it hard to rebuild.

The human cost of war is huge. Many people lose their lives or get injured. Families are torn apart, and children often lose their parents.

Psychological Impact

War can cause severe psychological trauma. Soldiers and civilians may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

War has devastating effects on people and societies. It’s important to promote peace and understanding to prevent wars.

250 Words Essay on War and Its Effects

War, a term that evokes immediate images of destruction and death, has been a persistent feature of human history. The consequences are multifaceted, influencing not only the immediate physical realm but also the socio-economic and psychological aspects of society.

Physical Impact

The most direct and visible impact of war is the physical destruction. Infrastructure, homes, and natural resources are often destroyed, leading to a significant decline in the quality of life. Moreover, the loss of human lives is immeasurable, creating a vacuum in societies that is hard to fill.

Socio-Economic Consequences

War also has profound socio-economic effects. Economies are crippled as resources are diverted towards war efforts, leading to inflation, unemployment, and poverty. Social structures are disrupted, with families torn apart and communities displaced.

Psychological Effects

Perhaps the most enduring impact of war is psychological. The trauma of violence and loss can have long-term effects on mental health, leading to conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder. Society at large also suffers, with the collective psyche marked by fear and mistrust.

In conclusion, war leaves an indelible mark on individuals and societies. Its effects are far-reaching and long-lasting, extending beyond the immediate physical destruction to touch every aspect of life. As we continue to study and understand these impacts, it underscores the importance of pursuing peace and conflict resolution.

500 Words Essay on War and Its Effects

War, an organized conflict between two or more groups, has been a part of human history for millennia. Its effects are profound and far-reaching, influencing political, social, and economic aspects of societies. Understanding the impact of war is crucial to comprehend the intricacies of global politics and human behavior.

The Political Impact of War

War significantly alters the political landscape of nations. It often leads to changes in leadership, shifts in power dynamics, and amendments in legal systems. For instance, World War II resulted in the downfall of fascist regimes in Germany and Italy, giving rise to democratic governments. However, war can also destabilize nations, creating power vacuums that may lead to further conflicts, as seen in the aftermath of the Iraq War.

Social Consequences of War

Societies bear the brunt of war’s destructive nature. The loss of life, displacement of people, and the psychological trauma inflicted upon populations are some of the direct social effects. Indirectly, war also affects societal structures and relationships. It can lead to changes in gender roles, as seen during World War I and II where women took on roles traditionally held by men, leading to significant shifts in gender dynamics.

Economic Ramifications of War

Economically, war can have both destructive and stimulating effects. On one hand, it leads to the destruction of infrastructure, depletion of resources, and interruption of trade. On the other, it can stimulate economic growth through increased production and technological advancements. The economic boom in the United States during and after World War II is an example of war-induced economic stimulation.

The Psychological Impact of War

War leaves a deep psychological imprint on those directly and indirectly involved. Soldiers and civilians alike suffer from conditions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Moreover, societies as a whole can experience collective trauma, impacting future generations. The psychological scars of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings continue to affect Japanese society today.

In conclusion, war is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon with profound effects that can shape nations and societies in significant ways. Its impacts are not confined to the battlefield but reach deep into the political, social, economic, and psychological fabric of societies. Therefore, understanding its effects is not only essential for historians and political scientists but also for anyone interested in the complexities of human societies and their evolution.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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IDF soldiers on a ground operation in Gaza

‘The destruction is massive … It’s a disaster area’: Israeli soldiers speak about fighting in Gaza

Exclusive: IDF troops shed light on their experience of fighting in the territory, where Palestinian casualties have passed 27,700

Demobilised Israeli reservists have described how they deployed massive fire power in a brutal, complex and often one-sided war of sporadic but intense clashes that has reduced much of Gaza to ruins.

They spoke, too, of the challenge of fighting on unfamiliar ground that is well-known to Hamas and which offered easy opportunities for surprise attacks, despite Israel’s conventional military superiority and air power.

Some had not seen Palestinian civilians at all, passing weeks in Gaza without encountering anyone other than small bands of Hamas militants. Others said they had been in close combat almost every day and considered those civilians who ignored Israeli instructions to flee as complicit with Hamas and thus legitimate targets. Those interviewed also expressed sympathy for civilians and said they had tried to help them.

More than 27,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health officials. Many thousands more are buried in the rubble. Swathes of Gaza have been destroyed and 1.9 million of its 2.3 million people have been displaced.

Senior military officials have said the offensive could last for many more months, even into 2025.

The soldiers were not authorised to speak to the media and were interviewed by the Guardian on condition of anonymity.

Information about the actual experience of fighting in the conflict has been closely controlled by the Israeli authorities . Journalists have been barred from Gaza, except for short, carefully supervised trips with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

The IDF did not act on repeated requests by the Guardian to speak to serving soldiers who had fought in the Israel-Gaza war .

“The destruction is massive,” said one noncommissioned officer (NCO) who was in Gaza for two months with an infantry unit. “What really blew my mind was that there is nowhere for anyone to come back to. There aren’t even three walls connected. It looks like a scene of a zombie attack or something. It’s not a war zone. It’s a disaster area, like out of Hollywood.”

A recently returned veteran said: “It’s not like how you see in the media. It’s not like a computer game. There are days and days when nothing happens and you never see the terrorists then it all goes crazy for an hour or so then nothing again.”

Other demobilised reservists described intensive combat with close-quarter fighting in Hamas strongholds such as Shujaiya and Jabaliya camp.

Israel launched the offensive after a bloody surprise attack by Hamas into Israel on 7 October that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians in their homes or at a music festival. About 240 hostages were taken back to Gaza by the group.

People visit makeshift graves near a refugee camp

Reservists described fighting an enemy they barely saw for more than “a few milliseconds”.

“They don’t show themselves. They avoid contact. You see the targets for a milliseconds. It’s kind of weird. You are walking through this smashed up city but it is empty. You have all this destructive power – attack helicopters, tanks, artillery that you can call for – so you feel almost omnipotent. But then at the same time you feel vulnerable,” the NCO said.

Many of those interviewed spent days trying to find and destroy a tunnel network that, they said, was far more extensive than originally thought by Israeli military planners and which allowed their enemies to emerge unexpectedly to attack.

“I was meant to be mapping [the tunnels] but in the end I just concentrated on the main tunnels, worked out where they were and then we bombed anything that we thought might be other tunnels for 2 kilometres all around,” said one.

Another said the tunnels were “all over the place, in houses, next to schools, in wasteland”.

“We tried all sorts of things to find them. Cameras on wires, going down ourselves. We were putting smoke grenades down them at one point and then looking for where the smoke came out,” he said.

Israeli officials have said that Hamas deliberately uses civilians to protect its military infrastructure and fighters, a charge denied by the Islamist group.

Officers interviewed by the Guardian in Gaza in November said the IDF warned civilians to leave in advance of any assault with telephones, media, flyers and bullhorns. Earlier in the conflict, the IDF organised what it called humanitarian corridors to allow ordinary residents of northern Gaza to evacuate and dropped leaflets telling them to flee. Aid agencies, however, have questioned the effectiveness of such orders, insisting that nowhere in the territory is safe amid Israel’s intensive bombardment campaign.

A soldier points a gun down a Hamas tunnel in Gaza

The interviews suggest that the soaring civilian death toll is at least in part due to Israel’s use of massive fire power to limit its own losses.

One soldier from the special forces Duvdevan unit said his unit had only encountered Hamas militants on three occasions during six weeks in north Gaza, from where the majority of civilians were ordered to evacuate early in the war.

When asked what tactics the unit employed in such situations, the soldier laughed.

“There are no tactics. We take some fire and identify a target. For an hour we unload everything we’ve got, our own weapons, tanks, anything we can get. Then we advance and find dead terrorists,” he said.

Another special forces soldier said that advances were “done properly” during the early stages of the war.

“We had everything we needed and all in the right order. First airstrikes and artillery, then the tanks, and only then the foot soldiers. By the time we got somewhere, there wasn’t much left,” he said.

The soldier said that more recently, following US pressure to minimise civilian casualties, tactics had changed. “Now the infantry are going in alongside the tanks and that’s why they are getting killed,” he said.

A third described how a relatively light injury to a fellow soldier triggered a “massive response”.

“We just took down the whole area where we thought the shooter was,” he said.

Senior officers have confirmed the use of its huge firepower to minimise IDF losses. Maj Gen Eliezer Toledano , the head of the IDF general staff’s strategic division, told ministers earlier this month: “We spare no munitions [when fighting] and we do everything necessary to protect the lives of our soldiers.”

Several veterans said they had not personally seen women or children killed or wounded, despite both groups comprising the majority of Gaza’s victims, which is possibly a consequence of most of these casualties being inflicted by long-range artillery or airstrikes some distance from most ground troops.

The IDF’s own estimates of civilian casualties are reported to broadly support statistics provided by Palestinian authorities in Gaza.

“You do see a lot of dead Hamas fighters, or men anyway. I didn’t see dead children or women and that helped a lot,” the NCO said.

Some of the soldiers said that they considered any civilian who remained in the combat zone after being warned to leave as complicit, and several described fighting Hamas militants in the upper stories of apartment blocks while families sheltered on the ground floor, or even in the same house.

“What am I going to think? That they’re not supporters of Hamas? What are they doing there then? We should ship them all to Yemen, if [the Houthis] like them so much,” a special forces soldier said.

Many of those interviewed said they had been shocked by maps or images in homes, schools and offices, which showed a putative Palestinian state stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, with no place for Israel. A third, an officer, said he had pointed out to his men that there were not many maps in Israel showing Palestinian cities or a putative Palestinian state.

“There were some [of my men] who had totally dehumanised [the civilians] but most felt some empathy. On the day of the ceasefire [in November] we saw them coming out of basements amid all this destruction and just thought, like, wow, how had they possibly survived? We didn’t even know they were there,” the NCO said.

The reservists interviewed were among the 350,000 mobilised for the conflict, of which perhaps half have now been sent home, primarily to avoid further damage to the economy. The drawdown is also to allow troops to retrain, rest or be transferred directly to the northern border, where conflict looms with Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamist militant movement.

‘We were attacked, so I have to fight’: soldiers remain steadfast in support

Though many mid-level commanders have been killed, most of the senior Hamas leaders in Gaza appears to have escaped harm so far. Israeli officials have said they believe that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, is sheltering in a command bunker under Khan Younis, the biggest city in southern Gaza and a stronghold for the group.

Israel claims to have killed 9,000 Hamas fighters and officials estimate the prewar strength of Hamas’s fighting force as between 30,000 and 40,000, including “part-timers” and security personnel such as some police.

Military officials denied pursuing a “strategy of attrition”, insisting that the aim of the offensive was to bring about the militant organisation’s swift collapse by finding its “breaking point”.

“We are absolutely not trying to kill every Hamas terrorist one by one,” one official said last month.

Two soldiers with weapons stand on some stairs

Information about incidents involving Israeli casualties has also been limited to reports solely about major incidents with little detail.

Ira Moroz, 46, described how her son, serving in the paratroops reconnaissance unit, had been badly wounded in Gaza. He survived his injuries, though a team member was killed.

“They finished a mission. On the way back they saw something suspicious and went to check, and then an anti-tank device blew up. My son was the closest … but he was behind a wall. His team thought he hadn’t survived, everyone was thrown 3 metres back,” Moroz told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz .

“A minute before the blast [my son] turned his head around and took the whole explosion in the back of the neck … His helmet burned on him, a fragment entered and was a centimetre and a half from a main artery. He’s wounded all over, but not in the bones, not in major veins … I’ve been smiling since they said in the ER that he had spoken.”

On Tuesday 23 January, Israel announced the death of 24 soldiers, by far the biggest single loss in a 24-hour period since the beginning of the conflict. The soldiers were killed on 22 January when a building in central Gaza they were preparing for demolition collapsed after being hit by grenades fired by Hamas militants. So far 219 IDF soldiers have been killed with a further 1,260 injured in the offensive.

All those who spoke to the Guardian said that Israel’s integration of female soldiers into frontline combat units, often as medics, search and rescue teams or in other roles, had been successful.

“The [women] are just like everyone else. Often much better actually, very serious. And no idiot business … No one even thinks about it,” one said.

None of the reservists interviewed doubted that Israel’s offensive and the tactics employed were justified. “Everyone in my unit knew someone who was a victim on 7 October. Any war is bad but we were there for a good reason,” said one.

Another reservist said that, as an Israeli citizen, it was his duty to take up arms when necessary. “We were attacked, so we have to fight, so I fight,” he said. “If they ask me to do it again, I’ll go back and do it again.”

  • Israel-Gaza war
  • Middle East and north Africa
  • Palestinian territories

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war destruction essay

Israel's war on Gaza Strip has displaced 1.4 million Palestinians: Mapping the devastation

Israel is facing strong international pressure to halt a planned ground offensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering from fighting between Israel and Hamas.

About 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah, which borders Egypt.

Israel, which believes Hamas fighters are hiding in or underneath Rafah in tunnels, has targeted the city with airstrikes in recent days. Israel's plans for a ground assault come as negotiations for a cease-fire or pause in fighting in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas appears to be stalled .

Live updates: Israel pulls out of truce talks in Cairo, cites Hamas' 'delusional demands'

The U.S., U.N. and even the International Criminal Court have urged Israel to refrain from invading Rafah, saying it could have disastrous consequences for civilians who have squeezed into the city.

French President Emmanuel Macron is among those who have warned Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu that the costs of a ground operation in Rafah would be "intolerable" for Palestinians.

Many are living in tents in squalid conditions and don't have enough access to food and clean water.

Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. 

The war has already wrought massive destruction in the Gaza Strip, with more than 28,000 people killed. More than 70% of those who have died are women and children, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

He's digging for water on the Moon: He hasn't been able to find a way to get water to Gaza

The humanitarian catastrophe has pushed more than a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza toward starvation , according to the U.N. Here's a look at the territory that already has been flattened by Israel’s offensive.

More: Biden says US is working on new hostage deal that would pause fighting in Gaza for 6 weeks

Devastation from the air

In satellite imagery captured by Planet Labs on Jan. 15, the central Gaza Strip city of Deir Al-Balah has sustained heavy damage, with homes, businesses and orchards destroyed.

A few miles farther to the south, satellite imagery showed widespread damage around the Khan Younis City Hall.

Contributing: Janet Loehrke

3 Ways to Make Conflict Less Destructive

Two ropes pulling on a larger rope to shape its path

“Do you think you could sum up the essence of all you’ve learned in one sentence?”

That was the question my friend Jim Collins, the famed leadership author, suddenly asked me as we were hiking up a mountain a few years ago.

“You’ve been wandering around the world for the last 45 years,” he continued, “working in some of the world’s toughest conflicts from the Cold War to the Middle East, from strikes to boardroom battles. What can help us in these times of intense conflict?”

I am an anthropologist by training. If I were a Martian anthropologist looking at us now, I would say we live in a time of great paradox. Never before in human evolution have we enjoyed such an abundance of opportunities to solve the world’s problems and live the life we want for ourselves and our children. And yet at the same time, with the rapid changes and disruptions, we face a wave of destructive conflict that’s polarizing every facet of life from family to work to community to our world—and paralyzing our ability to work together.

How do we navigate this stormy time to be able to realize the enormous opportunities we have at hand? 

First, we need to be realistic: we can’t end conflict. Nor should we . In fact, we may actually need more conflict, not less—and by that, I mean the healthy conflict that allows us to engage our differences, grow, and change what needs to be changed. The choice we face is not to get rid of conflict but to transform it from destructive fighting into creative, constructive, collaborative negotiation.

So what do we need to transform our conflicts and navigate these tumultuous times?

Read more: The Science of Getting Along

I would suggest we need three things above all: a clear perspective, a way out, and lots of help from others.

Let’s start with perspective. When it comes to conflict, we are often our own worst enemies. The biggest obstacle to getting what I want is not what I think it is. It is not the difficult person on the other side of the table. It is the person on this side of the table—it is the person I look at in the mirror every morning. It is our natural, very human, very understandable tendency to react—often out of fear and anger. We humans are reaction machines. As writer Ambrose Bearce once quipped, when angry you will make the best speech you will ever regret.

What’s the alternative?

It’s to do the exact opposite and pause for a moment. It is to think about what you really want and how you can get there. Imagine yourself on a stage and then go to the balcony—a place of calm where you can keep your eyes on the prize and see the bigger picture.

In other words, start by stopping.

That sets us up for the next challenge to find a way out . In today’s tough conflicts, we need more than ever to be able to find a way out of the labyrinth of destructive fights.

The other side may be far from cooperative. They dig in and refuse to budge.They pressure, attack, and threaten.  

Their position, their mind, is far away from yours. There is a huge chasm in between where you are and where they are. That chasm is filled with fear, anger, doubt, unmet needs, distrust. Our challenge is to build a bridge over the chasm—not just an ordinary bridge, a golden bridge. In other words, create an attractive way out for them and for you. 

Instead of pushing, do the exact opposite: attract. Instead of making it harder for them, do the exact opposite. Make it easier for them, easier to make the decision you want them to make. Leave your thinking for a moment and start the conversation where their mind is. Listen to them, try to put yourself in their shoes, and figure out their needs and fears so you can address them while advancing your interests, too.

That leads me to the third point: get some help . In today’s tough conflicts, it’s not easy to go to the balcony or build a golden bridge. No matter how good we might be, we are going to need help—and lots of it. 

Here’s the very common mistake we make when things get rough. We reduce the conflict to two sides—it’s us against them, union against management, Democrats against Republicans. What we forget is that in any conflict there is always a third side — the people around us, the friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, allies, and neutrals.

The third side constitutes a huge untapped potential resource for transforming the conflict. It is like a container within which even the hardest conflicts can begin to give way to dialogue and negotiation. The surrounding community can help calm the people who are fighting. It can bring the parties together and help them communicate and understand each other better. It can help them explore a way out, a golden bridge.

When the conflict is really hard, we may need a kind of community intervention. I call this a “swarm ” —a critical mass of persuasive influence and assistance—that can help the parties find a way through their difficulties. We need to mobilize the third side—the surrounding community—and build a winning coalition for agreement.

After all these decades working in tough conflicts and wars, people often ask me: are you an optimist or a pessimist? I like to answer that I am actually a “possibilist.” I believe in our human potential to transform even the toughest conflicts from destructive fights into creative negotiations. I believe it because I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes—in coal strikes, bitter boardroom battles, family feuds, and wars around the world. I’ve watched people unlock their hidden human potential and make the seemingly impossible become possible.

Where there are obstacles, possibilists look for opportunities. It is a change in mindset.

Possibilists aren’t blind to the dark side of human nature. To be a possibilist means to look at the negative possibilities too, but then to use that perspective to motivate us to look for the positive possibilities that avert the worst and bring about the possible.

I have seen how conflict can bring out the worst in us, but it can also bring out the best.

So what was the single summary sentence I offered Jim on that memorable mountain hike? “The path to possible is to go to the balcony, build a golden bridge, and engage the third side.” 

No conflict, however difficult, is impossible. Conflicts are, after all, made by humans so they can be solved by humans. And if we can transform our conflicts, we can transform our lives. We can transform our world.

That is my dream.

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IDF fires artillery shells into Gaza as fighting between Israeli troops and Islamist Hamas militants continues on Oct. 12, 2023.

Middle East crisis — explained

The conflict between Israel and Palestinians — and other groups in the Middle East — goes back decades. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.

What is 'domicide,' and why has war in Gaza brought new attention to the term?

Becky Sullivan

Becky Sullivan

war destruction essay

As Israeli troops withdrew from parts of Gaza City in recent weeks, residents ventured outside to survey the shattered landscapes. Omar El Qattaa for NPR hide caption

As Israeli troops withdrew from parts of Gaza City in recent weeks, residents ventured outside to survey the shattered landscapes.

One of the most staggering statistics to emerge from the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas is this: More than 650,000 residents of Gaza will have no home to return to once Israel completes its military campaign, the United Nations estimates.

That total amounts to nearly 30% of the territory's population. And "many more" will be unable to return home immediately due to damage to infrastructure and the danger of unexploded ordnance, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says.

As of early February, more than 70,000 housing units in Gaza have been destroyed and nearly 300,000 have been damaged, OCHA reports . Taken together, it represents 60% of all housing units in the Gaza Strip.

Some researchers and human rights advocates say the destruction amounts to "domicide," or the widespread or systematic destruction of homes, often during conflict.

To a reader in a faraway place with no connection to the conflict, the numbers may feel abstract. But behind each of those numbers are families now experiencing the loss of their homes, said Ammar Azzouz, a research fellow at the University of Oxford and author of the book Domicide: Architecture, War and the Destruction of Home in Syria.

"This is the house of a family, of the saving, the livelihood, the dreams and the future of people," Azzouz said. "And when the world's gaze moves on and forgets about what's happened, this pain and suffering and rupture remains with people for decades, because this was their lost life, their lost time, and they grieve for it."

war destruction essay

Men check a home destroyed by Israeli bombardment in a Rafah refugee camp in the south Gaza Strip, on Jan. 1, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Men check a home destroyed by Israeli bombardment in a Rafah refugee camp in the south Gaza Strip, on Jan. 1, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

What is domicide?

The word "domicide" is starting to be used more often, most frequently in the context of major conflict. It has also been used in non-violent contexts, such as when homes were destroyed in Canada in order to make way for the construction of hydroelectric dams .

Its meaning can be both literal and symbolic, Azzouz said. "We don't only refer to the tangible, which means people's homes and flats and properties, but also to the symbolic destruction that we witness, which could be about their sense of identity and belonging and security and safety," he said.

Domicide has come to be a feature of conflict in the Middle East, he said — from Mosul in Iraq to Aleppo and Homs in his native Syria.

Azzouz and others argue that this kind of destruction wreaks deep psychological damage on people, for whom the loss of their home means a deeply felt loss of security, comfort and memories.

What the numbers show in Gaza

More than half of all buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed as of Feb. 2, according to analysis of satellite imagery by a team of researchers at Oregon State University and the City University of New York. In northern Gaza, the most populous area of the territory before the war, as much as 82.9% of all buildings were damaged or destroyed.

war destruction essay

People hang their laundry on makeshift shelters at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah on the southern Gaza strip on Dec. 28, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and Hamas. Mahmud Hamsm/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

People hang their laundry on makeshift shelters at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah on the southern Gaza strip on Dec. 28, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and Hamas.

Israel's military says its strikes in response to Oct. 7 — when Hamas militants attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people — are targeted at military infrastructure and combatants. Israeli officials have previously accused Hamas of deliberately embedding militants among civilian buildings and in densely populated areas. The military declined NPR's request for comment on this story.

As fighting has advanced south, more than half of Gaza's population has been forced into Rafah, the territory's southernmost major city, U.N. officials say . Apartments and houses that once held a single family now sleep more than 100 people, families in Gaza tell NPR. U.N.-operated shelters are at four or more times their capacity, its agency in Gaza says. Those with nowhere else to turn now live in tents.

What does international law say about domicide?

The word "domicide" doesn't appear in the Geneva Conventions , which govern international law about the treatment of civilians during conflict. The Geneva treaties prohibit reprisals against civilians and their property, and they demand that any destruction of property must be "rendered absolutely necessary by military operations."

One U.N. official has called for that to change. In an opinion piece published late last month in the New York Times , Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, called for domicide to be explicitly codified into international humanitarian law.

In Gaza, anger grows at Hamas along with fury at Israel

In Gaza, anger grows at Hamas along with fury at Israel

"The systematic and indiscriminate leveling of entire neighborhoods through explosive weapons — as happened in Aleppo, and Mariupol, and Grozny, and towns in Myanmar, or most acutely these days, in Gaza — should be considered a crime against humanity," wrote Rajagopal.

"We all understand that killing can be a murder, a war crime, a crime against humanity or an act of genocide, depending on the gravity and intention of the act. The same should apply for the destruction of homes," he continued.

A requiem for Gaza's iconic sites, destroyed in the war

A requiem for Gaza's iconic sites, destroyed in the war

The destruction of homes was a key part of South Africa's argument before the International Court of Justice at the Hague last month, when it formally accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians . Israel, a nation founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has strenuously denied South Africa's allegations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the charge of genocide "outrageous" and a "vile attempt to deny Israel [the] fundamental right" to defend itself.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 28,000 Palestinians, the Ministry of Health in Gaza says.

But South Africa argues that Israel's actions go beyond that figure. Israel, the case says, "is inflicting on [Palestinians] conditions of life intended to bring about their destruction as a group," including mass displacement and "the large-scale destruction of homes and residential areas."

war destruction essay

On a January day, people explore the streets of Gaza City, where researchers estimate 72% or more of buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Omar El Qattaa for NPR hide caption

On a January day, people explore the streets of Gaza City, where researchers estimate 72% or more of buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

Late last month, the court found it "plausible" that Israel has committed acts that violated the Geneva agreements, and it directed Israel to ensure its forces do not commit any such acts.

But even if the war were to end today, the severe shortage of housing in Gaza will persist for years.

The reconstruction of Gaza will be a herculean and expensive task. The amount of rubble and debris generated by airstrikes and demolitions is alone so staggering that it could take more than four years just to clear it, OCHA says.

From the hospital to a tent in hours — what it's like giving birth in Gaza now

From the hospital to a tent in hours — what it's like giving birth in Gaza now

Additional reporting by NPR's Daniel Wood.

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Israel seeks to evacuate Palestinians jammed into a southern Gaza city ahead of an expected invasion

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at a hospital in Rafah, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Oct 13, 2023. The town is normally home to 280,000 people. But its population has swelled to over 1.5 million – roughly three quarters of Gaza’s population -- as people flee fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Sprawling tent camps now dot the city. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Jan. 14, 2024. The town is normally home to 280,000 people. But its population has swelled to over 1.5 million – roughly three quarters of Gaza’s population -- as people flee fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Sprawling tent camps now dot the city. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said he has ordered the military to prepare a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah ahead of an expected Israeli invasion of the densely populated southern Gaza city .

The announcement came after heavy international criticism, including from the U.S., of Israeli intentions to move ground forces into the city that borders Egypt. Rafah had a prewar population of roughly 280,000, and according to the United Nations is now home to some 1.4 million additional people living with relatives, in shelters or in sprawling tent camps after fleeing fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

Israel says that Rafah is the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza after more than four months of war.

“It is impossible to achieve the goal of the war of eliminating Hamas by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah,” Netanyahu’s office said. “On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat.”

This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Oct 13, 2023. The town is normally home to 280,000 people. But its population has swelled to over 1.5 million – roughly three quarters of Gaza's population -- as people flee fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Sprawling tent camps now dot the city. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Oct 13, 2023. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Jan. 14, 2024. The town is normally home to 280,000 people. But its population has swelled to over 1.5 million – roughly three quarters of Gaza's population -- as people flee fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Sprawling tent camps now dot the city. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Jan. 14, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

It said he had ordered the military and security officials to come up with a “combined plan” that includes both a mass evacuation of civilians and the destruction of Hamas’ forces in the town.

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Israel declared war after several thousand Hamas militants burst across the border into southern Israel on Oct. 7 , killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. An Israeli air and ground offensive has killed roughly 28,000 Palestinians, most of them women and minors, according to local health officials. Roughly 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, and the territory has plunged into a humanitarian crisis with shortages of food and medical services.

Netanyahu has largely rebuffed international criticism of the civilian death toll, saying that Hamas is responsible for endangering civilians by operating and hiding in residential areas. But that criticism has grown in recent days as Netanyahu and other leaders vow to move into Rafah.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that Israel’s conduct in the war is “over the top,” the harshest U.S. criticism yet of its close ally. The State Department said an invasion of Rafah in the current circumstances “would be a disaster.”

The operation will be a challenge on many levels. It remains unclear where civilians can go. The Israeli offensive has caused widespread destruction, especially in northern Gaza, and hundreds of thousands of people do not have homes to return to.

In addition, Egypt has warned that any movement of Palestinians across the border into Egypt would threaten the four-decade-old peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. The border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which is mostly closed, serves as the main entry point for humanitarian aid.

Israel already has begun to strike Rafah from the air. Airstrikes overnight and into Friday hit two residential buildings in Rafah, while two other sites were bombed in central Gaza, including one that damaged a kindergarten-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians. Twenty-two people were killed, according to AP journalists who saw the bodies arriving at hospitals.

GROWING FRICTION

Comments from top U.S. officials about Rafah have signaled growing friction with Netanyahu after a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Blinken, who has been working with Egypt and Qatar on trying to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, left the region Thursday without an agreement. But he said he believed it was still possible to strike a deal that would include an extended pause in fighting in exchange for the release of many of the more than 100 hostages held by Hamas.

Netanyahu appeared to snub Blinken, saying he will settle for nothing short of “total victory.” The Israeli leader has said the war seeks to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and return all hostages home. With Blinken still in town, Netanyahu said achieving those goals would require an operation in Rafah. Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, said Thursday that going ahead with such an offensive “with no planning and little thought in an area where there is sheltering of a million people would be a disaster.”

John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesman, said an Israel ground offensive in Rafah is “not something we would support.”

Aid agency officials have also sounded warnings over the prospect of a Rafah offensive. “We need Gaza’s last remaining hospitals, shelters, markets and water systems to stay functional,” said Catherine Russell, head of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF. “Without them, hunger and disease will skyrocket, taking more child lives.”

With the war now in its fifth month, Israeli ground forces are still focusing on the city of Khan Younis, just north of Rafah, but Netanyahu has repeatedly said Rafah will be next, creating panic among hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Palestinian women react after their home was hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Palestinian women react after their home was hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

AIRSTRIKES OVERNIGHT

Shortly after midnight Friday, a residential building was struck near Rafah’s Kuwaiti Hospital, killing five people from the al-Sayed family, including three children and a woman. A second Rafah strike killed three more people.

Another overnight strike, in the central town of Deir al-Balah, claimed nine lives. Also in central Gaza, a strike hit near a kindergarten-turned-shelter, damaging the building. It killed five and wounded several more people. Witnesses said shelter residents were asleep at the time.

A woman, carrying a small girl in her arms, shouted as she arrived at the local Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital: “What can we do? This is the work of the coward Zionist enemy that chooses innocent civilians. This girl is firing rockets at the Jews? May God help us.”

Some of the wounded children were treated while lying on the floor.

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

WORKING FOR A CEASE-FIRE

Israel’s 4-month-old air and ground offensive — among the most destructive in recent history — has killed 27,947 Palestinians and wounded more than 67,000, local health officials said Friday. The war has driven most people from their homes and pushed a quarter of the population toward starvation, according to the U.N.

Biden has said said he continues to work “tirelessly” to press Israel and Hamas to agree on an extended pause in fighting.

Netanyahu has rejected Hamas’ demands for a hostage deal, which includes an end to the war and the release of hundreds of veteran Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israel for deadly attacks carried out as part of the long-running conflict. Netanyahu dismissed Hamas’ demands as delusional, even as Blinken said he believes continued negotiations, through mediators Egypt and Qatar, are possible.

Israel’s war goals appear increasingly elusive, as Hamas reemerges in parts of northern Gaza , which was the first target of the offensive and has seen widespread destruction. Israel has only rescued one hostage, while Hamas says several have been killed in airstrikes or failed rescue missions.

Jobain reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip, and Mroue reported from Beirut.

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VISUAL INVESTIGATIONS

What Israeli Soldiers’ Videos Reveal: Cheering Destruction and Mocking Gazans

An analysis of social media videos found Israeli soldiers filming themselves in Gaza and destroying what appears to be civilian property. The footage provides a rare and unsanctioned window into the war.

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war destruction essay

By Aric Toler ,  Sarah Kerr ,  Adam Sella ,  Arijeta Lajka and Chevaz Clarke

This story was reported from New York, with Adam Sella reporting from Tel Aviv.

An Israeli soldier gives a thumbs up to the camera as he drives a bulldozer down a street in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, pushing a battered car toward a half-collapsed building.

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“I stopped counting how many neighborhoods I’ve erased,” the caption reads on the video posted to his personal TikTok, accompanied by a militaristic anthem.

Since Israel’s invasion in October, soldiers have shared videos from Gaza on social media, offering a rare, unsanctioned look at operations on the ground. Some have been viewed by small circles of people; others have reached tens of thousands.

The New York Times reviewed hundreds of these videos. Some show unremarkable parts of a soldier’s life — eating, hanging out or sending messages to loved ones back home.

Others capture soldiers vandalizing local shops and school classrooms, making derogatory comments about Palestinians, bulldozing what appear to be civilian areas and calling for the building of Israeli settlements in Gaza, an inflammatory idea that is promoted by some far-right Israeli politicians.

Some of the soldiers’ posts violate regulations of the Israel Defense Forces that restrict the use of social media by its personnel, which specifically forbid sharing content that may “affect the image of the I.D.F. and its perceptions in the eyes of the public,” or that shows behavior that “harms human dignity.”

In a statement, the Israeli military condemned the videos filmed by soldiers featured in this story.

“The conduct of the force that emerges from the footage is deplorable and does not comply with the army’s orders,” the military said in a written statement. It added that the “circumstances” were being examined.

But new videos like these from the ground continue to appear online, a reminder of the many ways social media is changing warfare. In Russia and Ukraine, soldiers now share videos directly from the battlefield, frequently posting footage of combat, at times even giving a first-person perspective from helmet-mounted cameras. Videos have also been posted showing torture and executions .

With ​Israel’s war in Gaza under intense scrutiny, many of the soldiers’ videos shot in Gaza have fueled criticism. One was screened and five others were also cited as evidence in the case that South Africa brought to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide, a charge Israel has categorically denied.

The Times traced more than 50 videos back to Israel’s military combat engineering units, showing the use of bulldozers, excavators and explosives to destroy what appear to be houses, schools and other civilian buildings.

Human rights experts have raised concerns about the scale of this type of destruction in areas under Israeli military control, noting that international standards of warfare require a clear military necessity to destroy civilian property.

The videos in this story have been verified by determining the dates and locations where they were recorded, or by confirming that the soldiers appearing in them and their units were in Gaza around the time the footage was uploaded.

None of the soldiers who shot and posted the videos responded when asked for comment.

More than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since an Israeli bombardment and invasion of the enclave began, according to the health authorities in Gaza. The Israeli offensive followed the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel, which killed roughly 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.

The base at ‘Nova Beach’

After its ground invasion in late October, the Israeli military established bases along the northern coast of Gaza. The area, called Nova Beach by soldiers, a reference to the music festival where 364 people were killed by Hamas and its allies on Oct. 7, is the backdrop for many of the social media videos reviewed by The Times.

Before the war, the area was made up of homes belonging to Gazan families, vacation properties, greenhouses and agricultural fields. A damaged Gazan house on what is now a coastal Israeli base is the setting for a video posted in November by a reservist who is also a D.J.

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The clip was paired with a parody version of the Israeli song “This Was My Home,” which was featured in an Israeli comedy sketch and has spread online in recent months among Israeli social media users making fun of Palestinians.

“This was my home, without electricity, without gas,” the song goes as a soldier makes himself at home in the rubble of the damaged house before heading to the window and gesturing at a scene of destruction outside. The house was destroyed in late December, satellite imagery shows.

“It’s heartbreaking, inhumane,” Basel al-Sourani, an international human rights lawyer with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, a nonprofit organization based in Gaza City, told The Times, “and just demonstrates that the Israelis want you basically out of your home, the Gaza Strip.”

Using another popular meme, the same soldier also posted a video in mid-November to the sounds of a remix called “Shtayim, Shalosh, Sha-ger” or “Two, Three, Launch.” In the widely shared clip, soldiers dance on camera, and when the word “launch” is heard, the video cuts to a shot of a building being blown up.

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Shortly after The Times asked TikTok about the videos featured in this story, the clips were removed from the platform. A representative from TikTok said the videos violated company guidelines, including its policies around hate speech and behavior.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, did not respond to a request for comment.

A window into demolitions

Some of the most active accounts reviewed by The Times belonged to soldiers from units of the Israeli military’s Combat Engineering Corps, which uses heavy machinery, including bulldozers, to clear pathways for the military , discover and destroy tunnels and raze structures . The Times recently documented controlled demolitions carried out by engineering units throughout Gaza.

In a video filmed on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza in early January, combat engineering soldiers can be seen smoking hookah pipes before explosions take down residential buildings in the background. They then raise glasses to toast each other.

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In some of the combat engineers’ videos, Israeli soldiers mock Palestinians as they destroy structures and property. In others shared widely on social media, soldiers dedicate the destruction of buildings to victims of the Oct. 7 attacks and to family members. In one TikTok video, soldiers dedicate the bulldozing of a building to Eyal Golan, an Israeli singer who has called for the complete destruction of Gaza . South Africa cited this video as evidence of what it called “genocidal speech by soldiers” in its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

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As the bulldozer drives into the remaining walls of a partially destroyed house in Khan Younis, soldiers shout, “Eyal Golan, our dear brother, we love you,” and add: “This house is for you.”

A destroyed landscape

One combat engineering soldier shared a photograph on Dec. 12 to his TikTok account with three armored bulldozers and a destroyed landscape near the Israeli base on the northern coastline of Gaza.

Several bulldozers are parked in what looks like freshly distributed sand along the beach.

“This is after a lot of work — the whole place was covered in greenery and houses until we got there,” the caption reads.

About a mile south along the coast, similar destruction can be seen in satellite imagery captured in late December, showing that at least 63 buildings, including homes, had been cleared within a quarter mile of the base. At the time, the area was about 1.5 miles from the boundary of Israeli-controlled territory, according to maps published by the Institute for the Study of War.

war destruction essay

The visible building rubble is consistent with clearing methods used by combat engineering units seen in videos filmed elsewhere in Gaza and analyzed by The Times. Israel has used bulldozers to clear vast amounts of land and property throughout Gaza since late October.

The Times sent the coordinates for each of the 63 structures to the Israeli military and asked for comment on the military necessity for their destruction. In a written response, the military stated that Israel “was currently fighting a complex war” and that “there are difficulties in tracing back specific cases with a specific coordinate at this time.”

Four legal experts reviewed the social media videos and satellite imagery near the base and said the imagery could be used to show unlawful destruction, a violation of the Geneva Conventions .

Dr. John B. Quigley, a professor emeritus of law at Ohio State University specializing in international human rights law, said in an email that “the scope of destruction of residential buildings in Gaza suggests that the I.D.F. is using a standard for protection of private property that does not comply with international standards for warfare.”

In response to questions about soldiers’ bulldozing of civilian homes, an Israeli military spokesman, Maj. Nir Dinar, said that the military acts upon “operational necessity” and follows laws of war. “The houses that are being dealt with are buildings that pose a threat to forces operating or they are a military target of some sort,” he told The Times by phone. “Every target that is being eliminated, there is a good reason for that elimination.”

Israel is also conducting controlled demolitions along the length of Gaza’s 36-mile land border in order to create a “ buffer zone .” Legal experts have questioned the legality of these demolitions, noting that it is unlikely that all of the destroyed buildings posed an immediate military threat.

Riley Mellen and Neil Collier contributed reporting from New York, Johnatan Reiss and Patrick Kingsley from Jerusalem and Mohammed Almajdalawi from Gaza. Alexander Cardia contributed production.

Aric Toler is a reporter on the Visual Investigations team at The Times where he uses emerging techniques of discovery to analyze open source information. More about Aric Toler

Sarah Kerr is a reporter and producer in The Times’s video unit, covering national and international stories and breaking news. More about Sarah Kerr

Chevaz Clarke is a live visuals editor at The New York Times, working closely with the Live team on visual coverage and focusing on video storytelling. More about Chevaz Clarke

Our Coverage of the Israel-Hamas War

News and Analysis

International alarm over Israel’s plans for a ground offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, intensified as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with plans to invade the city .

Israel sent troops  into Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis , one of Gaza’s last functioning hospitals, where many displaced Palestinians had sought shelter . The Israeli military, which had previously ordered displaced people to evacuate the hospital , said that the raid was a search for Hamas fighters and the bodies of hostages.

As talks continued in Cairo toward an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told his negotiators not to take part , infuriating some family members of hostages still in Gaza.

A Father’s Heartache: Beginning in December, Mustafa Abutaha, a professor of English in Gaza who lost a son to the war, sent us dozens of voice and video messages , providing a window inside Nasser Medical Complex before it was raided by Israeli forces.

Building Political Pressure: Omer Neutra and Edan Alexander, young men from the New York area who were serving together in the Israeli military, were taken captive on Oct. 7 near Gaza. Their families now share one urgent goal : to free them.

An Arab Vision for Gaza: Mohammed Dahlan, a Palestinian exile and an adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, provided some insights into what Arab governments are privately planning  for the battered enclave after the war ends.

A Child’s Suffering: Dareen al-Bayaa, 11, lost dozens of her family members in an airstrike on Gaza . She is one of at least 17,000 children across the territory who have been orphaned or separated from their parents.

Fighting for Influence: The Friends Committee, a Quaker lobbying group, has been pushing in Washington for a cease-fire  between Israel and Hamas, going up against more powerful and better-funded groups backing Israel.

Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Weapons Of Mass Destruction — Chemical and Biological Warfare

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Published: Feb 13, 2024

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  • Miller Center. “George W. Bush - Administration.” Miller Center, 23 Feb. 2017
  • History. “Bush Learns of Attack on World Trade Center.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 16 Nov. 2009
  • U.S. Department of Defense. “Bush: No Distinction Between Attackers and Those Who Harbor Them.” United States Department of Defense, 11 Sept. 2001
  • Gallup. “Bush Job Approval Highest in Gallup History.” Gallup.com, 24 Sept. 2001
  • Richelson, Jeffery. “Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction, 11 Feb. 2004
  • The White House. “State of the Union Address 2002.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, 29 Jan. 2002
  • NY Times. “Timeline of Major Events in the Iraq War.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Aug. 2010

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Essay on “Wars- Destructive for Humanity” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Wars- Destructive for Humanity

War is, without argument the worst collective experience of humanity. It has created new nations on the rubble of destroyed cities and humans dead.

It involves mass killing without humane feelings even   if short and swift. Our recent experience with Kargil , which was not even not even a full-fledged war, reopened the sordidness of military action.

Wars, when prolonged like the world wars, result in human brutality, mass extermination of races and intolerable atrocities on innocent civilians. All rules are kept on the backburner and what matter is victory or defeat. The 21 st century has seen the development of weapons, controlled by computerized systems, with pin-point accuracy and a million –fold increase in powers of destruction compared to our previous wars.

Weapons and tactics have undergone total transformation in the last millennium but no deterrent has managed to quell human conflict. It may look totally different has managed to quell human conflict. It may look totally different for the war mongers but not the common man it gives the same results death and destruction. The totally of wars since 1945 right from Nagasaki and Hiroshima to Iraq and Afghanistan continue to grow without respite. The irony of the new millennium is that improvement in technology and scientific advancement have given us more options, leaving us with our major drawback, our primitive human failing –the fear of the other.

The core reasons for fighting wars are about proving superiority, hegemony, competition for dominating the region or the world and for economic survival. The recent wars, to preserve the efficacy of the democratic system , may be a phase which is temporary.

The US military historian and analyst Colonel Macgregor states this explicitly, “ We did not fight Hitler just because he was a Nazi or the fight against Stalin was not because he was a Communist.” Similarly the US ambassador to NATO asserted, “Our shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, respect of human right  are themselves every bit as much worth depending as our territory”. This may be applicable for the war on Iraq or Afghanistan but vital interests are of primary importance. Otherwise why has NATO kept allot from Kashmir, Africa, Chechenay or Algeria in spite of   terrorism and absolute human suffering. Examples of Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor are now exceptions but do raise our expectations for intervention in vases of upholding human rights.

The situation has drastically changed today with hand-held missiles capable of bringing down aircraft. The US faced this situations in Somalia and   Afghanistan. Even very back in 1993, the US experienced the result of new weapons, in the hands of hurriedly formed mercenary and militia. The ragged, underfed and ill uniformed  militia was capable of bringing down  helicopters and kill marines, wrecking a super-power campaign in Somalia. The civil war in Somalia was further intensified due to their intervention. The bloodshed in Algeria continued in 1998 but the NATO and other super –power including France just sat back and twiddled their thumbs. 

Serbia also proved a point by creating a human crisis which could not be solved by the forces of NATO, it has to find its own solution to the problem. Intervention in Yugoslavia or Iraq has not been able to subdue the rulers there and even after carpet bombing and unleashing their might the NATO powers could not rich a conclusion.

From these results, it has been proved that self- imposed political  limitations on the amount of force to be used, can simply leave problems unresolved. The future holds more terror with smaller states like North Korea going in for nuclear weapons and states like Pakistan passing on technology to other Islamic states. The day is not far off when Islamic militants will be able to get together a makeshift weapon. Major powers will be facing the paradox of yet more asymmetric warfare by small adversaries wielding outsize weapons capable of atomic explosions and chemical warfare.

India has this situation at Kargil when they faced a few hundred mercenaries, terrorists and Pakistani militia, entrenched at the heights. The result was that it took us 50 days of all our effort leaving is with 407 dead and 584 wounded, with six missing. It was only after the Air force was put into substantial use that we succeeded in our efforts to recapture the god – forbidden heights   

Air campaigns alone today, can bring about drastic results and with precision air power alone serve as an effective and peacemaking lever. The surrender and demise of the Taliban Government in Afghanistan was activated by the non-stop aerial bombing by US fighter bombers. The terrain and the weather would have made any other mode a long drawn process with casualties shooting sky high

Experts are of differing opinions on the strategy to be adopted in the face of threats from rouge states and fanatical groups like Islamic fundamentalists as well as peacekeeping tasks that stop short of full-fledged war. In today’s context, arms proliferation has speeded up. ‘ The right computer chip in an adaptable emissive aboard an off-shore trawler or a pickup truck, makes a formidable weapon of mass destruction, launched by a small but implacable foe.’

The call by US today of a space shield and an anti-missile defense are prompted not by fear of a superpower like the erstwhile Soviet Union, but countries like Libya, Iraq, North Korea or terrorists who have caused havoc and destruction all over the world. The latter could not be cowed down even after near destruction of Afghanistan. All the US monitors and technology could not stop the 9/11 terror of the towers being destroyed., the pace of war between nuclear powers has receded, but these terror annihilation by groups. Can they be stopped? It’s a different kind of war now, but as destructive or even more than earlier, for humanity.  

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