are needed by many countries to keep their warmachines working and brinning money in to their coffers.
Innocent lives are just "collateral damage". A cost of doing business.

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

"It's not a matter of whether the war is not real, or if it is, Victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.

Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia but to keep the very structure of society intact."

-George Orwell

...Sound familiar?

I think that the ruling elite are TERRIFIED that the world's new freedom of information is making their message of fear and fear-driven greed look increasingly irrelevant and parasitic. For a nu,ber of years they have been panicing - they see their time ending... and as always in history, that means that while they can they will control the game by upsetting the board - like a six year old.. they act - SO - it's again TIME FOR A WAR...