The Ugly Face of War – Nothing New

Face of War, 1941, by Salvador Dali

By Dr. Hassan Humeida

KIEL, GERMANY: Instead of waking up in peace, we wake up in horror. Instead of waking up to a laughing sun, we wake up to deafening cacophonies. Instead of waking up to birds singing, we wake up to loud explosions. We wake up when we have slept with daily sad effects of war. War with an ugly face and sharp claws and not more. War in its worst form and atrocity. A naked ugly appearance, without a dress and real war without a mask.

The essentials are missing here and there. With the loss of peace, people lose everything. Temperatures are extreme outside, dropping below the freezing point at night. There are people fleeing outside. People who leave everything dear to them behind. They even leave their own country to seek safety elsewhere. Children, young people, women and the sick are fleeing. Whoever dares to stay in a war zone, does so at his own risk, because there are bombs everywhere.

What’s in and what’s out when water, electricity and utilities are intentionally cut off? When cold and dark flats are as cold and dark houses and streets. When they burn out and are no longer habitable.

Here it becomes clear to all residents that they have to embark on a long journey and no one can answer their questions as to when they can return to their old dwellings. It remains to be seen whether they will be able to return at all, and hope remains.

It remains to be said that there can be nothing new in warfare except that it has an ugly face.

When a war comes to an end, what remains is the destruction and devastation of souls, buildings and roads. When the war ends, fear, anxiety and distrust remain. When the war ends, deep scars and traumatized people remain. When the war comes to an end, there remain complicity and reproaches about what a person could have done to save or help other people who died in the war.

It is advisable to consider an ending before launching a beginning. War cannot be solved with war and guns and armaments are not supposed to be the right answer. The diplomatic way is the sensible way for the more permanent and sustainable peace. It is high time this path is taken to end war for a peaceful world. It is the highest time to break the silence everywhere and by all sides, admit own mistakes and failures, and apologize for them. Because admitting own mistakes and failures counts as a strength of worthy people.

In war, there is nothing to win, but much to lose and sometimes to lose everything we have. The bitter experiences remain as an aftertaste. The logical question, which has no answer, is often repeated: why was war then waged?

An excerpt from my children’s book entitled “The Desires of Shajen” – to be published in 2022 – Human Rights (13):

I never want to see anything reprehensible in my life. I don’t want to see fire blaze in the wind and houses burn down. I don’t want to see a human demeaning another human. I don’t want to see pride belittled and generosity disregarded. I don’t want to see humanity trampled underfoot. I don’t want to see a person disrespected because of their origin or their beliefs, their appearance or the color of their skin, their nationality or their social class. Rather, every person should be treated with humanity.

Dr. Hassan Humeida

E-Mail: hassan_humeida@yahoo.de