Togo Goes to War

An Editorial

Today I feel like I must write about something a dog should never have to write about . . . war.

Daddy told me that one really big country has invaded a smaller, weaker country and that almost all of the other countries in the world think that the big country is wrong. But they did it anyway.

If a dog, big or small, did this in our neighborhood, we would brand them a bully and we wouldn’t let them play with other dogs. Daddy says that is what is happening to the bully country right now. The rest of the world is beginning to isolate them and trying to make it hard for them to do what they are doing. In the best of times, the bully would be sad and learn to get along so that he could play with us again.

In the meantime, rockets are being launched and guns are being fired and people are dying. That’s the worst of the worst of things. Historically, the worst of the worst of things doesn’t immediately stop wars.

I asked Daddy why they don’t just stop. Daddy says that it is complicated but largely motivated by the pursuit of power. Sometimes, it’s only a few people in a country who are hungry for that kind of power. Daddy calls those people “authoritarians” which is a longer word for “bully.” And most of those people are far away from the rockets and guns. And others die.

I am just a dog. I don’t want to be at war. Only bullies want war. In our dog world, we choose leaders for our packs. Sometimes we pick bullies by mistake. But we don’t let those mistakes linger.  Most of the time we pick the common dog who has the courage to take care of everybody. 

Daddy says that he doesn’t pretend to know all the answers. I told him I had one — that we should all get together and stop picking bullies for our leaders. It might not be everything that needs to be done. But it certainly is one thing. And we need to stop the bullying.