A couple of months ago, one of my friends expressed to me a want to be in the United States Army. Immediately, I was confused. This friend had never wanted to join the army before, nor had she ever seemed to be someone who could go through an intensive boot camp experience. I believed for that moment she had gone crazy, so I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to do something with computers so she didn't have to fight. The thing is, isn't it fighting no matter what you do? Aren't you always giving a message that you are against the other country that the war is against? Herein lies an ideology that I believe people struggle to understand, or rather a philosophy; a philosophy on war.
Imagine, for a moment, that instead of 9/11 happening in our country, we did 9/11 to the Afghans. In this sort of scenario, let's say we also found out that they were planning the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. and so that's why we decided to fire back first. While the attack was gruesome, since it was done to the Afghans, we immediately believe it was "okay" since they were going to attack the World Trade Center. In a way, we are then the terrorists, but to the people of Afghanistan while we see ourselves as heroes. Something that has to be understood about war is on both sides, neither side thinks they are wrong. Al-Qaeda thought that what they were doing was right. Now, maybe you think they were crazy, and that's fine. However, we wound up waging a war in Afghanistan against this group of people, while many civilians of Afghanistan had done nothing wrong. While people say it's alright since we are doing what we need to do to protect our country, those people are thinking the same thing; they are protecting their country too.
The question that then comes to pass is, what morals exist in war? There are "good" and "bad" people who serve as soldiers in all different countries all of the time. But are we to sacrifice this idea of good and bad whenever it comes to war?
Let's say another example: a boy has been raised up and has an intense pride for his country. This is where he grew up, where he fell in love, where he started a family, where he got his first car, job, pet. This country is somewhere he has to protect no matter even if it means dying.
Did you picture a buff white American man with blonde hair, a skinny wife, two kids (a boy and a girl), and a dog (maybe a German Shepard)? Or did you picture a different family? An Arab man, scraping by to provide for his family, a mutt for a dog whom his children adore? The thing is, these two people can come from exactly the same circumstances and then face each other in battle during a war. They both stand for the same things; family, nation, love, peace. They're just on opposing sides.
There is no peace in war. It cannot be found. Enemy or not, people are people and just because they seem "different" in war, they aren't. A lot of them just want to protect their countries. War needs to end, because war does not equal peace and it never can. Not whenever both sides think they are inherently correct. Even if someone works on computers or photography or is a nurse, they're still supporting the fight and adding to it. How many people have to die before a war is considered won? And how many more years will it be until the next one? Two? Five? Maybe even only half a year?
War doesn't work, it never can. It's a dangerous cycle that just keeps twisting and twisting, taking more and more lives. So what is the point of it if all it ever does is kill?
