WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE ? THE HISTORY OF WARFARE

 

 

The last JUST WAR was World War II

 

One might argue about the Palestinian-Israeli wars.

 

One might ask why we let Rwanda happen,

 

And did not go to war.

 

But who would dare to justify

Korea?

Viet Nam?

Cambodia?

Iraq?

 

Why must we keep killing strangers?

 

Is it about justice?

 

Or,

 

Truth be told,

 

Isn't it really about

 

Oil?

 

Riches for the mercenaries?

 

And for the arms industry?

 

More wealth for the filthy rich?

 

More power for the much too powerful?

 

There ought to be a good reason for

 

Every maimed child,

Every raped woman,

Every bloody corpse.

 

There ought to be a good reason for war.

 

Phyllis Carter

 

 

THE HISTORY OF WAR

 

The first recorded war occurred c. 2700 B.C. It was between Sumer (in modern Iraq) and Elam (a region that is now part of Iran), and was fought in the area around Basra (just like the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s).

 

Of course, tribes, cities, etc., had been fighting each other for thousands of years before that, but there are no records of these earlier conflicts as writing wasn't invented until a little before 3000 B.C.

 

http://ancienthistory.about.com/b/2003/07/15/the-first-war-ever-recorded.htm

 

 

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE ?

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Gone to young girls, every one!
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time ago?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone to young men, every one!
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the young men gone, long time passing?
Where have all the young men gone, long time ago?
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone to soldiers, every one!
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

And where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, a long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, every one!
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

And where have all the graveyards gone, long time passing?
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time ago?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers, every one!
When will they ever learn, oh, when will they ever learn?

Words and music by Pete Seeger