Posted by Jim on July 26, 2000 at 17:57:37:
In Reply to: Sorry, you missed it again! posted by Bob-CH on July 26, 2000 at 12:25:49:
OK, this is what I do for a living, so I feel a little differently. Here's my rationale, but first let me start out by saying that I acknowledge war means allot of suffering, death, pain, political intrigue and power plays, etc.... I'll even stipulate to the notion that there has probably never been a war without atrocities. BUT, aside from that, has there ever been War's about good things (like freedom?):
Our Revolution: freed us from tyrannical monarchy, and established our right to self government. Recognized that "all men are created equal," and set the stage for the implementation of our Constitution (which, by the way, is what the US Armed Forces swear to uphold, not the people or the government) (oh yeah, and some countries, like France and Vietnam thought so much of our Constitution and Declaration of Independance that they copied them). Who benefitted? I'd say all Americans.
Our Civil War: preserved our nation (and I guess some folks would argue that) and abolished slavery in the US. Who benefitted? Again, I'd say all Americans, but especially Blacks.
WW II: (among other things) stopped the Nazis. Who benefitted? My mom, for one- she was a little girl in France who had a German soldier quartered in her house during the occupation-, and I'd be bold enough to say almost all of us.
Anyway, the point is that there are always bad folks and good folks on either side, and certainly the politicians do benefit, but some of the wars have had noble causes and noble outcomes.
The interseting thing is that as a military officer, my job is to fight 'em, not to start 'em. In America, that's the civilians' job via their elected officials. If in Europe, the people don't have the same power over their governments, I'd say that just backs up my earlier comments about what a "good war" the American Revolution was......
I'm not trying to degrade Europe, Europeans, or their governments- I just don't live there so I don't really know what it is like....
Our Country was born in a fight, and has a pretty good track record since then. So I guess we're pretty defensive of our wars, what they mean to us, and our ability to keep fighting them when we feel th cause is right.
Anyway- tha't my opinion on the subject.
-Jim