“Collateral Damage”

Those two simple words, collateral damage, seem to have been around us almost forever. And while they are sometimes in terms of a violent police operation, most often they are used in connection with war. Collateral damage basically means the loss of non combatant life in a combat situation.

In the Civil War, collateral damage was almost non existent. Opposing armies found huge empty fields, and went after each other hammer-and-tong. Most civilians were smart enough to stay away, although indiscriminate shelling led to civilian deaths.

In World War I, the same pretty much held true. Mostly the combat took place in open spaces, cities being notoriously difficult for an invader to try to clear. The Germans used some indiscriminate shelling of cities to terrorize the population, and took and executed hostages to force compliance, but the numbers remained small.

World War II changed things a bit, not not much. Hitler resorted to widespread, indiscriminate bombing of British cities to try to force them into submission, but the Brits learned early where to hide when the alarms went off. And after D Day, the Allies carpet bombed largely German held cities to take out armaments factories and installations, but again, the populace quickly hearned where to go to hide.

Remember, the basic meaning of collateral damage is the loss of innocent non combatant lives. And at the end of WWII, for the previous century, the ratio of loss of military combatant life as opposed to innocent civilian life stood at 9-1 military loss. But thanks to the due diligence and dogged reporting of a reporter from The Irish Times, we now know that by the end of the 20th century, that ratio had actually reversed! It was still 8-1, but now it was 8 non combatants for every dead soldier.

Unlike some parts of the globe, since 1945 the United States and Europe have enjoyed pretty much war free life, especially Europe. But Putin’s arrogant rolling war crime in Ukraine has poured a cold water douche over the rest of the world. The Ukraine conflict has been a cold hard slap in the face that the war they remembered doesn’t exist anymore!

War in the 21st century is no longer between two standing armies, especially if you’re going up against that scumbag Russia. Because from day one, Ukraine has been kicking Putin’s ass all over the battlefield. Putin’s response? Withdraw as many of his forces as he can to a safe distance, and then resort to random, indiscriminate bombing and missile shelling on major metropolitan areas in an attempt to terrorize the population, and force Ukraines government into submission. The war of the 21st century is apparently a war of craven cowards.

Historians and military historians love to describe wars past as being full of valor and honor. Mano-a-mano, army against army, no holds barred, and let the best man win. But in the Ukraine war, the battle plan is for Russian fighters to take off in Russia, armed with missiles, fly towards Ukraine, then release their loads before crossing the border, returning to their bases while their missiles fly 200-300 miles into Ukraine before slamming into hospitals, food storage facilities, shelters and civilian apartments. As Bono of U2 once said while singing Sunday bloody Sunday on the day after the Irish Enniskillen Massacre, Where’s the fucking glory in that?!

Please Dear Lord, if Putin’s Ukraine war teaches us nothing else, please just let it teach us this. The war of the 21st century and beyond will not be fought between two armies. Instead it will be fought by armies against civilian populations! And that isn’t war. It’s an atrocity, and crimes against humanity. Here endeth the lesson.