Only the dead, said Plato, have seen the end of war.

Banking on War

Shalom:

Only the dead, said Plato, have seen the end of war. As true as this may be, it does beg the question: why? Why is there so much conflict in the world? Why are there so many wars? Ethnic and religious tensions have been casus belli since time out of mind, to be sure. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War ruptured a framework that held for almost fifty years, bringing about a series of conflicts that are understandable in hindsight.

There is a simpler answer, however, one that lands right in our back yard here in America. Why so much war? Because war is a profitable enterprise. George W. Bush and his people can hold forth about the wonders of democracy and peace, and can condemn worldwide violence in solemn tones. Until the United States stops being the world's largest arms dealer, these words from our government absolutely reek of hypocrisy.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080206Z.shtml

You better look at facts because facts are looking at you.

One of the main reasons, is that like many things Plato said, Socrates said it previously, and then Aristotle later encoded the sayings. Thus leading directly to up to Wall Street and tape recorders.

Why are there so many wars?

Because people will fight over just about anything, from worn-out shoes to nuclear weapons. Which is why the framers of The US Constitution took great care in spelling out the US Articles of War. But the current Administratin has decided to completely disregard them, on the basis of some U.N. fuzzy-logic defined notion of a non-existent global Abe Lincoln oil economy and global terrorism. And use impromptu conidtions of war as defined by Fox News and CNN.

Ethnic and religious tensions

But that's because the collapse of the Soviet Union was spontaneous, just like it's formation, and the nuclear reactors it was founded on.