By Joss Miller

A United States Senator, Hiram Johnson, once said "the first casualty, when war comes, is truth" with this observation worth bearing in mind in relation to the current Russia/Ukraine conflict. After more than 18 months of fighting tens of thousands of soldiers have died, with many others wounded and permanently disabled.

In March 2022, shortly after Russia’s incursion into Ukraine there was a brief period of negotiations between the parties that took place in Turkey. A settlement appeared possible. There were other countries at that time offering to act as mediators. These efforts failed and since then there has been no meaningful dialogue or diplomacy, as a brutal and unremitting war continues.

The Eastern front has become a vast killing field.

Drones are being widely used along with the most sophisticated technology and array of deadly weapons. Meanwhile, Israel is intent on eliminating Hamas from Gaza, following its recent brutal and murderous rampage that resulted in the deaths of more than 1000 Israeli civilians.

The Israeli military in response has embarked on a powerful military campaign that has also caused high numbers of civilian casualties and deaths.

Conflict and war has been a feature of human existence since the beginning of time. It seems delusional to think that a world of perfect peace and harmony can be attained, but wise leadership and diplomacy should always play major roles in defusing tensions and misunderstandings between adversaries.

According to author H.G. Wells World War 1 was supposed to be "The war that will end war". Millions of soldiers however died, with countless numbers physically and psychologically shattered.

Just over 20 years following the signing of The Treaty of Versailles in June 1919 World War 2 began, in which an estimated 20million military personnel died: civilian deaths exceeded 38million. One of the most powerful songs about the horror and futility of war was written in 1976 by Scottish/Australian folk singer Eric Bogle. It is a lament to Private William McBride who lies buried in a grave alone, and far from home. It was a warm summer’s day in France when the writer reflected on the loss and suffering that this war had inflicted, for what were often miserly territorial gains.

Some of the lyrics are as follows;

"I see by your gravestone you were only 19

When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916

Well, I hope you died quick, and I hope you died clean,

Or Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

But here in this graveyard that’s still No Man’s Land

The countless white crosses in mute witness stand

To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man,

And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

And I can’t help but wonder, no Willie McBride,

Do all those who lie here, know why they died?

For Willie McBride, it all happened again,

And again, and again, and again, and again!"

These words highlight in a profound and moving way, what can often be the pointless and unnecessary carnage reaped by war. Think of all the grieving families today in Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Gaza with much more grief yet to come and uncertainty as to when and how some acceptable resolution of these conflicts can be reached.

 - Joss Miller is a retired Dunedin lawyer.