Here I am going to discuss a different type of war theft. In
this case it is not soldiers raiding the homes of abandon homes due to battles,
but of governments at war raiding each other’s money. Allow me to
explain.
Concept: Once war is declared, countries try to defeat each
other. But this does not mean it has to include violence, or the
minimization thereof. One of the growing concepts of war is to attack the
financial means of the enemy country to weaken it so that can be rendered
powerless or at least less powerful. So why do we not take money directly
from the enemy countries treasury. In short, the attacking country uses
electronic means to hack into the enemy countries bank account and steals all
their money to help fund their own war efforts. And if not done by
financial means, then soldiers would be sent in to directly take money from the
enemy’s banks in the opposing country. Also, if say we are fighting
terrorists and their supporters, why not do the same to them and take the money
that they have as well to fund war and defense efforts, and even pay off
national debts.
Advantages: For one, no country or terrorist
group can survive without money to fund its operations. By finding and
taking their money, you can effectively shut down the enemy government or
organization for an extended period of time. This is especially effective
against governments as they will have to be careful not to print more money least
they cause inflation which could cause prices to rise within their country and
increase poverty. In short, taking the money can be devastating.
On the flip side, the country doing the
taking can now use that taken money to fund their war efforts instead of using
tax payer dollars. Also, money taken that is not spent on war efforts may
go toward the public debt, or fund other projects like roads and hospitals.
So the money can be put to a good cause.
In practice: With the recent Russian annexation
of Crimea from Ukraine, the international community has frozen the assets of
many power brokers and government officials in Russia. However, this only
affected those who had assets outside of Russia. However, if the
Ukrainian government instead took their money via hackers on both the
individual level and the governmental (like the money in the Russian military
budget), the Russians may not have been so quick to annex Crimea, let alone be
reluctant to give it back.
Conclusion: Unlike individual war theft, this
form has some moral ground as to defeat an opponent, possibly before shots ever
having to be fired. Money really does make the world go round and by
removing the enemy countries financial assets, it creates major repercussions
that they cannot hope to face without aid of an ally. In addition, if the
money of the enemy country is taken away and your country is the victor, your
country can then replace their currency with a different one your country will
control. Thus, your country can adjust its value at will making the enemy
now dependent on you once victory is assured. So the only obstacle now is
finding some really good hackers, and finding a way into the enemies banking
systems.
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