This comment on MonkeyFilter caused me to have an epiphany of sorts. If you’ve visited the link, beeswacky is, like many other members of MoFi, a staunch liberal. Good heart, bad politics, in my personal opinion. bee’s rather dismal opinion on the nature of warfare, weaponry, and human conflict, and especially his/her comment regarding the US seems widespread and prolific, rather than isolated.
Moreover, it is generally the opinion among liberals that the US is responsible for many of the world’s ills, including advancement of increased militarism and imperialistic goals.
My epiphany, which as it turns out was less the epiphany I thought it was upon reflection, was that liberals are simply cynical about warfare. It’s as if they can only see the carnage; as if carnage is the only thing war brings.
I am not blind to the effects of war. My little brother Noel is currently serving in Iraq and has seen some awful things. Both my grandfathers saw war, as did my father. I feel I am sufficiently close enough to the facts of war that I can also make an informed opinion about the nature of war.
Why is war necessary? The simple and hard answer is that hominis ero hominis.