On the general nature of war

Folks I have been debating whether to post this or not but time to do it.

I have concluded that Hollywood has done a great disservice to the American People, for over the last thirty to forty years it has glorified war, and usually presented a false image of war. Yes, there are exceptions, such as Saving Private Ryan, which was critzed for it was too gory and too violent... like warn isn't?

Now here is where the problem arises, in war, that is why it must be avoided at all costs, people die. They die in the most horrific of ways... in the prime of their lives. The future is stolen every time a nation goes to war. Yet I have read of hollywood solutions, such as send commandos... yes Spec Ops have a function in the arena of combat, but hollywood has glorified them to the point that people believe that they are the solution to every problem... and they are useful only when applied to what they are meant to do... which is far less pleasant than any of you are willing to consider. Assassination, head hunting, and destruction of infrastructure, as well as Creation of indigenous rebel forces are part and parcel of what they do.

War is part of the human condition... and laws that most humans more or less respect are there to make the horrors a lot less horrific... usually succeed in making it a little less horrific. If we are to ever get cured from war, I guess we must face the monster full force. Realize that Full Metal Jacket and even Jar Head ARE antiwar movies... but none of them even approaches the horrors. Of course with the passing of the last American generation tha went to war fully, as in all the population, war is far more of a game today than it ever has been... why? I blame partly the media and partly us.

I will once again recommend War: A Force that Gives us Meaning, by Peter Hedges... for all of you who think you under sand the issues at hand, this is required readying.

War destroys everybody who is involved in it, physically or mentally, soldier or civilian.

THAT is why it is to be avoided.

Never mind how it drains the resources of combatant countries or organizations.

And in re: "with the passing of the last American generation tha went to war fully" - I saw on PBS's Fog of War recently that the average American military during WWII saw 40 days of combat a year, compared to the average military during Viet Nam who saw 240 days a year.

This suggests to me that the Great Generation doesn't know that much about what it is talking about when they say we should "stay the course".

I am talking of the society in general... in WW II you were either in the army, or working for the industries that supported the war or at bear minimum you bought war bonds. Compare and contrast with the current conditions... when less than 1% of the population is directly involved at any one time and military industries are not that many. This country is NOT at war.

That said, Fog of War is also required watching.

experience. If their experience is not a match for the reality, they will make faulty judgements about their, and others', responsibilities for "involvement" in the war, or anything else to do with it.

The average attitude is affected by the knowledge base. The Great Generation is still very powerful politically and their knowledge base IS limited, in spite of how heroically it is characterized.

that said, we are now predictably having more wars, and conflict, as that generation passes as well as their experience... I expect WW III within ten years... if not sooner

just sayin...

two weeks after 9.11... it made that much of an impression. thanks for the correction though