Hartley NeitaWHEN WORLD War II ended in the mid-1940s millions of men and women were killed by bombs, bullets, gas chambers and by starvation and there was an international vow that war would be no more.
That was to be celebrated as "the war to end all wars", and in that hope, the United Nations was created. Germany, Italy and Japan were excluded from this club as they were seen as the evil ones who could not associate with the civilised people of the world.
The creation of the United Nations did not, however, stop the hate for people who did not look like some of us, did not have the same colour skin as some of us, did not share the same religious beliefs as some of us, did not share the same tribal cult as some of us, and did not have the same political ideology as some of us.
And so there have been wars in Korea, Vietnam, Nigeria, South Africa and her neighbours, and Israel and her neighbours, among many others.
These, however, were confined to their immediate neighbourhoods and had very little impact on our way of life in Jamaica. Most of us, therefore have no idea of what can be the effects of a major war.
War as it was fought 60 years ago was different to what it can be today. Most of the fighting then was man to man, with support from planes, ships, submarines and tanks.
Now, however, a button can now be pressed in Washington or London and hundreds of missile launchers will rise like gorged penises to spurt semen of violence and destruction in a mass rape of people thousands of miles away. And the men whose fingers are on the buttons will prance with cocky confidence, like roosters after they have deflowered hens in their coops.
In the meanwhile, we who are not in the immediate war zones will still suffer. The price of oil will rise to unprecedented heights if the producers will not prefer to send it to the combatants who will pay more than we can afford. As it was in World War II, cars will be mounted on blocks in garages; public transport will be mule-driven buses; the Municipal and Parish Councils will not be able to pay for street lights and so our nights will be dark and house crimes and murders will rise; the National Water Authorities will only be able to pump water for a hour or two each day; cooking will be with wood coal or firewood supplied by men travelling with it from rural areas and selling it to householders by the crocus bag or the cord.
Elevators in high-rise offices and hotels will only be in use at specified times during the days. Some companies will pay a fortune for abandoned manual typewriters as there will be limited electricity to power computers. Houses will be lit at nights with "Home Sweet Home" kerosene oil lamps.
Whisky, champagne, wine, sherry, grape juice and apple juice will be drinks of the past. Salmon, tuna and other foreign fish imports will be replaced by fish produced in our own ponds, thanks to the Cuban technology which taught us to make mini dams in an era some prefer to forget. CNN will become the television channel of sole choice at those times electric power is being supplied.
We will all suffer these and more because of the urge to find and get rid of one man. The last Great War ended when Germany's leader is said to have committed suicide. The Italian leader was hanged publicly, and two of Japan's cities were obliterated by atomic power. In a more recent war, the man who became "Most Wanted" is still somewhere unknown.
"Most Wanted" lists usually number 10. So after Saddam, who will be the next one on the wish list to be rid of, dead or alive? The mass rapes will go on and on.
