Soldiers

It is important not to confuse our wish for peace and our distaste for war with the reasons for which battles are fought and the reality of those who are charged with the task of fighting those wars. The idea that wars can not happen without people to fight them and therefore those who do the fighting make war possible may be true, but only when kept separate from the realities of war.

Looking at the soldiers who fight our wars and holding them responsible for the suffering and horrors of war, which they themselves are often the victim of, while ignoring the many personal sacrifices and hard choices that brought each individual to that war, objectifies soldiers unfairly. They become a symbol, a cardboard cutout of themselves, instead of the very real men and women who face the potential of their own death for purposes that too often have nothing to do with the given reasons for the wars they fight. Some who choose a career in the military may think they know why they are fighting; they may or may not be wrong. There are noble causes after all, but whether war is the only solution remains open to question. Gandhi did much without declaring war, which is not to say innocent people did not die - dead is dead, whether from a bomb, bullet or starvation and sometimes when psychopaths gain power the death of some will be needed to prevent the deaths of many. I’m sure the allied soldiers who liberated the Nazi concentration camps were seen as angels of mercy. I am equally sure that they were far from merciful to the Nazis.

Holding soldiers responsible for war simplifies a complex issue with a number of causes. It is natural to want to find an explanation that can lead to a solution; one would have to be severely twisted not to do so, but to simplify the causes and realities of war is to not confront the terrible toll war takes upon the bodies and lives of the men and women who fight those wars. To do that denies the humanity of soldiers and the very second one begins to deny the humanity of other human beings one has stepped firmly upon the very path that leads to war in the first place. If we truly want to bring an end to war, and considering the potential for mass nuclear destruction we really must do so, we have got to embrace our soldiers and listen to them, learn their stories and know what war is. You can not end that which you refuse to confront. Our soldiers, those who fight, suffer and die for us, are part of that confront.