What are wars for?

 
This year, 2022, marks 80 years since Japanese bombing raids began on Darwin in WW2.
The air attack on Darwin continued for nearly two years; the city was bombed 64 times.
Australian troops, numbering approximately 250,000 were stationed in the Northern Territory at some stage during those war years. Lives were lost; young men were permanently scarred.
History recalls that the government of the day fudged the numbers of casualties so that people wouldn’t 'be alarmed'.  
But conservative estimates of war deaths in NT at the time, puts the servicemen tally at 432 and the number of civilian deaths at 63. That’s almost 500 people. (At least).
What was that all about?
To end that conflict, even worse had to occur, as the US obliterating of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were to prove.
So, what was all that about?
Today, Japan is considered one of Australia’s Best Friends.
And yet, for a decade or so after WW2, Australians refused to buy anything stamped “MADE IN JAPAN”.
Years later, when Japan proved its skills in manufacturing electronic goods and cars, all was ‘forgiven’ and the horror of war time was put in the past.
So, what did that war achieve?
Will we ever learn that all wars are futile?
What is the point, right now, of Putin bombing Ukraine into rubble – killing soldiers and civilians by the hundreds and wrecking any civilisation in his path?
 
Why do humans keep making wars?
Here are some interesting facts:
The Australian Defence force costs over $48 BILLION p.a., to maintain.

​ALSO, did you know?
Australia is one of the top ten weapons exporting countries in the world, selling in excess of $5 BILLION worth of arms and equipment annually.
 
Imagine, for a minute, if all the money spent on arms and military might was spent, instead, on mitigating the (equally) deadly effect of Climate Change.
Imagine if all the military personnel from every nation rallied to save the planet, instead of bombing it.
 
Eighty years ago, Japan was dropping bombs on Australia.
Today Japan is one of Australia’s Best Friends.
Please tell me WHY we keep having wars.