Warfare-- underlain by various forces: economics, ethno-centrism, human aggression,  "conflict resolution", or whatever-- can, of course, directly cause environmental damage.  Beyond "conventional" weapons, chemical and biological weapons are presenting heightened hazards to people and our life support system (e.g., optional: see "Agent Orange...," below).  Nuclear weapons, of course, are so mighty that they threaten all humanity (for instance through "nuclear winter"). 

Short of nuclear warfare itself, the development and production of nuclear weapons (some 80,000 in the U.S. alone) has caused massive environmental degradation and human suffering (e.g., optional: see Nuclear Wastelands, below).

Militarism can also be charged as an indirect, but important, root cause of environmental stress.  Short of active warfare, it is properly argued that in many countries militarism has diverted tremendous resources away from problems of environment and society.  According to William Thomas, "Global military expenditures are... three to five times more than the money being spent on environmental remediation and protection" (Scorched Earth, 1995).

The world's largest marine oil spill resulted from the 1991 Persian Gulf War. 

Military strategy for a new millennium...

  Optional online reading concerning militarism

  "Plan Colombia: Herbicide Spraying Killing Food Crops, Pastures," Andrew Selsky, Associated Press, 23 January 2001 (posted at Common Dreams News Center) -- In Colombia, food crops and pastures, as well as coca, are being killed as part of an "anti-drug campaign" funded by the U.S.

  "Fungus Versus Coca: UNDCP and the Biological War on Drugs in Colombia," Martin Jelsma, Transnational Institute, February 2000

  "Bosnians Fall Victim to NATO's Deadly Legacy," Robert Fisk, Independent (U.K.), 23 January 2001 (posted at Common Dreams News Center) -- Bosnian Serbs, many of them former soldiers are suffering from hemorrhages, tumors and cancers long after the Bosnian war has ended; exposure to depleted uranium used in U.S. explosives is blamed.

  "Depleted Uranium: My Battle for the Truth," Felicity Arbuthnot, Sunday Herald (Scotland), 21 January 2001 (posted at Common Dreams News Center) -- "Since I discovered that depleted uranium weapons had been used [in the 1991 Gulf War], every attempt to find out the truth has been met with a wall of lies."

  "The Truth About Depleted Uranium," Robert Fisk, Independent (U.K.), 8 January 2001 (posted at Common Dreams News Center)

  "Depleted Uranium: How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons," International Action Center DU Education Project (no date)

  "50 Years Later, The Tragedy of Nuclear Tests in Nevada," Norman Solomon, FAIR's Media Beat, 5 January 2001 (posted at Common Dreams News Center)

  "Collateral Damage of the Environmental Kind," Claude V.C. Morgan, Mother Jones News Wire, 6 September 2000 -- A year after NATO's bombing campaign, Yugoslav and international ecology experts say that environmental damage caused by the air war is far more extensive than NATO will admit -- and they want to take NATO to court to force the issue.

  "Agent Orange Effects Still Being Felt 25 Years After End Of Vietnam War," Paul Alexander, Associated Press, 23 April 2000

  "Report: Can't Rule Out Nerve Agent Antidote as Cause of Gulf War Syndrome," CNN News, 19 October 1999 

  "Containing the Cold War Mess (Summary)," Marc Fioravanti and Arjun Makhijani, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, 1997

  "Nuclear Winter and Other Scenarios," Jon Roland, Vanguard Institute, 1984

  Optional print resources concerning militarism

  Nuclear Wastelands; A Global Guide to Nuclear Weapons Production and Its Health and Environmental Effects, ed. by Arjun Makhijani, Howard Hu, and Katherine Yih, MIT Press, 2000 (669 pages)  (about) 

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