Addiction to War
By Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
Tando Mir Mahmood
Hyderabad Sindh, Pakistan
This year's UN General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, in his opening address said, "It is a sad but undeniable fact that serious breaches of the peace and threats to international peace and security are being perpetrated by some members of the Security Council that seem unable to break what appears like an addiction to war. The state of our world today is deplorable, inexcusable and, therefore, shameful."
The leading powers have rejected conflict resolution by peaceful means though this addiction isn't solely their prerogative because third world rulers too squander and spend countries to abject poverty by pursuing confrontation. Together they are responsible for the shockingly appalling conditions that people live in today.
The latest report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute presents a truly distressing picture. It says "World military spending grew 45 per cent in the past decade, with the United States accounting for nearly half of all expenditure, total military spending grew six per cent last year alone. In 2007, $1,339 billion was spent on arms and other military expenditure, corresponding to 2.5 per cent of global GDP — or $202 for each of the world's 6.6 billion people. The world's 100 leading arms producing companies sold arms worth $315 billion in 2006. In the past decade, the Middle East has boosted military expenditure by 62 per cent, South Asia by 57 per cent and Africa and East Asia by 51 per cent each." (Emphasis mine).
"The United States spends by far the most dishing out $547 billion or 45 per cent of global expenditure last year. Its Defence Bill for the fiscal year 2008, minus the cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is $459 billion". War and anti-terrorism efforts could cost the US, $2.4 trillion over next decade.
Universally the military expenditure is most disconcerting and alarming. Sadly the sub-continent lurks near the top of list. Jingoistic leaders and frenzied hate rhetoric has perpetually kept the neighbours in latent or open conflict and diverted precious resources from human development with disastrous results.
BBC reported that, "Overall, 10 million children die every year before they are five years-old. Most deaths occur in just six countries - China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Pakistan." The sub-continental children suffer heavily yet surveying the defence budgets, India: $ 22.10bn, 2.57% of GDP (2006) and Pakistan: $4.54bn, 3.14% of GDP (2007), one would presume they are ignorant of the bitter realities. In 1999 India spent $10 billion on defence, $10.5 per capita, while Pakistan spent $4 billion, $27 per capita, which has risen to $34 now.
'Human Development in South Asia' a ten yearly review by Mahbubul Haq Human Development Centre says "A little over 73 per cent of Pakistanis still live below poverty line with the percentage of rural poor registering an increase and the share of South Asia in the total number of poor in the world has increased significantly from 40 per cent in 1993 to 47 per cent in 2004.The progress in life expectancy in Pakistan during the last 10 years is the slowest in the region. Percentage of malnourished children under five years of age remains stagnant at 38 per cent compared to 40 per cent in 1994."
"Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births increased significantly from 340 deaths in 1993 to 500 deaths in 2000. Incidence of tuberculosis per 100,000 increased from 150 in 1995 to 181 in 2004. Public spending on health as percentage of GDP also went down from 0.8 per cent in 1995 to 0.4 per cent in 2004."
Statistics show that during the year 2006-07 Pakistan's defence expenditure was Rs. 249.858 billion while only Rs. 5.964 billion and Rs. 22.6 billion on health and education respectively. Recently Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim said "During the last 30 years, Rs178.3 billion had been spent on education and Rs98 billion on health while on the other hand around Rs2, 835 billion had been consumed on defence alone."
Note, the 30 years combined expenditure on health and education is marginally higher than that of defence in 2006-07 alone. No wonder we possess A-bombs but have 73 percent people, mostly illiterate, languishing below poverty line and health services unfit for quadrupeds. Pakistan's unenviable 137th place in UN's Human Development Index tells everything.
The silent tsunami of poverty is engulfing the world. Globally food prices rose by 43 per cent while rice prices rose by 75 per cent in2007. ADB says a billion Asians are at risk of malnutrition. Food prices have hit the highest levels in 30 years and about 850 million people are suffering from chronic hunger worldwide, forced about 100 million more people into hunger and pushed a further 30 million Africans into poverty.
The world existence is threatened due to 'addiction to war', rampaging food poverty, social upheavals, fundamentalism, militarism, militancy and global warming. These ominous features prognosticate disasters of Biblical proportions which the inept world leadership is hastening because heedless to the urgent socio-economic and environmental concerns the arms industry the energy producers, the religious fundamentalists and the inept egotistical rulers are relentlessly pushing the world towards certain obliteration.
When the Chinese Peoples' Army was closing in on big cities in1949 and severely punishing those involved in social evils there were many who blinded by greed persisted and paid the ultimate penalty. Similar trait is being displayed by the insatiably greedy and power hungry of the world. The essential difference being that the entire world will pay the ultimate penalty for the greed and reckless short-sightedness of few. The globe today is akin to a container full of purest nitro-glycerin being transported by a clumsy lot.
This 'addiction to war' has wasted zillions without making the world a secure place. Imagine the spectacular impact on quality of life on earth had these sums been spent for peaceful purposes but then peace doesn't bring the dividends that war does.
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