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War is...Heck!

We (the all-encompassing global we) are facing war daily, and have for quite a while. Now, I know the way I face these wars and those that live in Ukraine, the Middle East, Western Sahara, Cyprus, Yemen or any of the other 30 or so places where actual gunfire (and worse) are occurring every day face them is impossible to compare, however war is still top of mind if you follow any news at all.

I have noticed, as someone old enough to remember many wars, that wars now are expected to be "clean". What I mean by that is any deaths are reported as abominations. Death should never be taken lightly and I am not dismissing the horror of war and any deaths. However, war is war. In my opinion and the opinion of many others, we are facing constant warfare in no small measure because we do have this expectation of no civilian deaths and minimal damage to anything not purely military in nature. Surgical strikes are not just expected, when a surgical strike does not work, it is condemned. Again, death should never be dismissed nor made commonplace, but war should not be easy.

I have read a lot of science fiction over my life (Sci-fi for anyone under 40). A recurring theme is warfare that is performed without much (or any) human contact. Robots, machines, or virtual warfare is the way that wars in the unspecified future are fought. Dehumanizing warfare, in the basic definition of dehumanizing - the removal of humans - makes war too "easy". In the sci-fi stories war is common and scheduled because it is kept "clean. When someone in a safe secure bunker somewhere can reach out and kill by remote control it becomes too easy. The horror of having an actual human look you in the eyes as you each try to end the life of the other makes on realize the actual cost of war. When warfare is reduced to a video game level it does not have the same impact. 

We lament now when a hospital is bombed in a war zone. That is a horrible thing, no doubt, but war should make everyone uncomfortable. War should be a thing of nightmares. As mentioned above, making it too removed from direct human contact makes it too easy to do. War should be hell. The sheer horror of war is a deterrent against a casual attack.

The other part of this equation is the appeasement of those that indulge in warfare (by many names - terrorism, attacks, retaliation, etc.). Bullies cannot be appeased. Bullies respond only to power. The no tolerance policies of some schools have shown this when the person that counter-attacked is punished equally (or more so) than the instigator bully. But that is another story. The recent attack by Hamas on Israel was being dismissed and justified by people less than a week after the horror of the attack should have still been in everyone's mind. The attack by Iran on Israel this week (as I write this) that sent hundreds of missiles into Israel has people asking Israel to have no response. That is insanity. It is very, very sad that innocents have to die in war, but if attacks are ignored more will occur. Appeasement does not work.

War is hell, or should be. Making it less of a hell is not a good thing. Becoming comfortable with allowing evil only invites more evil. Keeping us comfortable with warfare just asks for more. 

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