November 11 is just past and many of us either attended Remembrance Day services or if you were unable to attend, watched a ceremony on television. If you watched any documentaries around Nov. 11 then the ugliness of war is still imprinted in your brain.
As for the veterans who returned home after the wars, they will not even talk about the atrocities that they encountered.
One of my uncles fought to regain Italy after it was taken by the enemy in WWII and he told me different times of meeting civilians when he was not sure if they were on his side or would turn him in or just kill him. This is even more prevalent in later years with both women and children being used as suicide bombers. When you see a soldier, you can usually tell by his uniform which side he fights for.
At the beginning of WWII, 25 percent of the North American population were living on farms. A large percentage of the army, air force and even navy were made up of farm boys. In 2017, less than two percent of the population are living on farms even though they produce a much greater quantity of food.
Recruiters for the wars of the past looked for strong legs, good feet, perfect eyesight and someone who was a good shot. Although future wars will also have “boots on the ground” even couch potatoes who are good at playing video games will be just as good at flying drones, or directing bomb carrying missiles as a fit individual.
World Wars were mostly fought in Europe because long range missiles had not been invented yet.
If a war ever starts again any place in the world with a GPS co-ordinate could be a target.
Bombing big cities could strike terror into civilians. Bombing oil fields or oil sands or oil refineries could put a stop to transportation. Bombing our ports or grain elevators could not only stop us supplying countries depending on North America for food grains but also compromise our own food supply.
Introducing a deadly bacteria into a handful of meat plants could not only render us extremely deficient in meats but if not detected immediately could kill millions of people and completely overwhelm our hospitals and health care system. Let’s lobby our politicians, and anyone with influence to work towards removing the big red button from all our world leaders who have questionable judgement.
Let’s make it a priority before we find out whose son or grandson gets conscripted. Remember that farmers are less than two percent of our population and have very little political influence. Everyone must express their concern.
Some of our world leaders may be looking at war as the only way to maintain their power.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com
