The gathering storm of war

The gathering storm of war

By E. Stanley Ukeni

Although I feel that much of the world is apprehensive—even terrified, of the prospect of an accidental outbreak of a catastrophic world war, it seems, to my dismay, that the rhetoric fueling the prospect of war in the Korean peninsula has not abated much. This is quite unfortunate.  

Even a recent trip by a senior United Nations envoy to Pyongyang, a few weeks ago, to help avert a possible military conflict by urging a diplomatic solution did not quite yield the desired outcome. It seems the North Koreans are not in any hurry to engage in peace negotiation that would ease the possibility of armed confrontation with South Korea, Japan and the United States over their offensive nuclear program.

The low key trip by the U.N. undersecretary for political affairs and a former senior United States diplomat occurred on the 5^th of December 2017. It was the first of such a critical peace mission to Pyongyang by a high-level U.N. official in the past half a dozen years.

This difficulty in brokering a negotiated de-escalation of the crisis in the Korean peninsula increases the possibility of a potential, and perhaps unintended, military confrontation between the United States and North Korea.

But then, just when Kim Jong-un’s belligerence seems to have entrenched even deeper, the North Korean regime suddenly reestablished ‘hotline’ communication link with South Korea. The hotline had been suspended by the North Korean regime in February 2016.

I think that the reopening of this vital ‘high level’ line of dialogue will go a long way in creating the framework for restarting constructive discussion on de-escalation of the Korean crisis. Perhaps, the North Korean leadership are not as unreasonable as some would have us think.   

I sincerely hope that this year will usher a new era of peace on earth and goodwill to all humankind. However, this wouldn’t happen until we all follow the lead of Pope Francis and sue for peace on earth. You may be wondering what I mean by ‘following the lead of the Holy Father’.

Well, to highlight the sense of urgency of a ‘long gathering storm of war’ Pope Francis, about a month before the peace mission by the U.N. undersecretary warned of a brewing catastrophe, in the hope of discouraging an unintended misadventure by the contending parties. I’m not sure his warns is being heeded.

You know that there is a tragedy brewing when the Vicar of Christ—the Holy Pontiff, openly cautions about the possibility that the world is stumbling towards another catastrophic world war—one that would be even more devastating than the Second World War. This is a dreadful prospect that should alarm us all.

Just before the commencement of a prayer Mass that was attended by thousands of people at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in the town of Nettuno, on Thursday, 2^nd of November 2017—the day Roman Catholics commemorate their dead, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, venturing on a solitary trek through rows of low white headstones in the shape of the Christian crosses and the Jewish.

He solemnly placed white roses atop about a dozen tombstones at the U.S. military cemetery, which is dotted with gravestones in the shape of Christian Crosses and Jewish Stars of David. This is where 7,860 American soldiers, who died fighting to liberate southern Italy and Rome during the Second World War, between 1943 and 1944, were buried.

Stopping a while during his trek, the Holy Father muttered an improvised homily—in hushed tone, imploring God’s intervention to prevent an outbreak of war, “Please Lord, stop. No more wars. No more of these useless massacres,”

It was obvious from his demeanor that the Holy Father was agonizing over the possibility of an outbreak of a devastating nuclear war in the Korean peninsula. This is not the first time the Holy Father has warned of another world war. In September of 2014, Pope Francis warned that the world was already embroiled in a ‘piecemeal’ Third World War—while condemning arms merchants and ‘plotters of terrorism’ as sowing seeds of death and destruction all over the world.         

As the gathering storm of war gains momentum, we must all join the Holy Father in divine supplication—for God’s supernatural intervention in preventing the looming spectre of unimaginable human suffering and the possible catastrophic loss of millions of innocent human lives.   

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