some thoughts.....
i've been in the middle of armed conflict a number of times
i've seen the bodies torn to pieces - helped pick them up and lay them to rest
i've talked to mothers weeping over their dead children and husbands weeping over their dead wives
i've seen the devastation of homes and villages
i've witnessed women being tortured and raped by soldiers
these things happened in other countries than my own - they did not involve my own nation's military.
these horrific acts of terror, violence, and war were perpetrated by the armies of one nation against another, or against their own people, or by armed anti-government forces against their own nation's military or its supporters
and the reason i saw all of these things was because i was sent there to try to stop it
my country did not go there to invade and conquer and cause death and destruction
we went to try to stop all that from happening - because we were asked to come there by the people who were involved
and in most cases we succeeded - because we were bigger and stronger and threatened to use force if the people who were doing the killing didn't stop
sometimes they didn't stop
so sometimes we had to make good on our threats - sadly and solemnly
and sometimes they still didn't stop
war is a terrible, awful, horrible thing - no sane, reasonable, rational person thinks otherwise
but wishing it to go away doesn't make it happen
i don't agree with everything the leaders of my country decide to do - there are plenty of other things on which i would rather see my tax dollars spent than what they choose to spend it on. i use my vote. i am as disturbed and outraged by the improper and immoral use of force as anyone else. but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared to use force when it is moral and just to do so.
i would rather see all of the nations of the world resolve their conflicts peacefully and non-violently
but if a bully starts picking on someone, shouldn't someone stand up and make that bully stop? shouldn't it be the responsibility of someone bigger and stronger than the bully, someone who has the means to back it up? and should the bigger, stronger, responsible one then be called a bully for forcing the bully to stop?
maybe my nation is a bully. but if we stopped, someone else would take our place - you can be sure of that.
who would you rather have it be?