[Mr 5 0]

Mercury:

Fair observation and one that has been made many times before, and will be made again as we fight yet another war, this one against terrorism.

The dichotomy is this: When we fight a war, it's for a reason: defeating Nazi's, communists or now, terrorists. That's a noble and necessary action we have to take, or at least that the majority of Americans decided we have to take and that I agree with 100%.

Unfortunately, war, by definition, is the killing of people and destruction of property. The enemy must be defeated and that only happens by killing and destroying enough people and property that the enemy surrenders or at least, decides to stop fighting.

It's brutal and bloody and sickening and yet, so was the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

As a people, Americans have grown rather comfortable and our knee-jerk reaction to war tends to be horror and revulsion, as you've experienced. We seem to be shocked that people actually die in war!

Unfortunately, neither Nazi's or terrorists care much about our aversions to mass murder and will happily inflict death and destruction on us to weaken and ultimately destroy us, if they could.

Yes, war - real killing - is hard, sickening and often soul-deadening which is why we avoid wars through the military strength we possess, but with terrorism, that's changed; for now, anyway.

Killing another human being must be the hardest thing one could ever do, no matter the motivation - even self-preservation. I can understand your feelings of shock and revulsion at people cheering death and destruction in a movie theatre. That's simply honest patriotism and easy emotion. As you've seen first-hand, real veterans don't have quite the same ra-ra feelings about the wars they participated in.

War is seemingly inevitible and we all owe our many veterans a huge debt of gratitude for what the gave and sacrificed to keep us free.

Rather than simply be shocked at easy patriotism and cheering of make-believe soldiers in a movie, we should realize how hard it was for those real soldiers in Viet Nam to do what they did for a country that basically didn't support them and spat on them when they returned. Instead of being upset by movies about war, why not use the reminder of that '60's war to motivate all of us to thank a veteran for his service to his country, especially those who fought in Viet Nam and to support those who now fight in the mid-east, and will also come back with horrible memories and sometimes, not come back at all.

We may be revolted at acts of war and killing, but right now the war we're in was inflicted on us and we must respond or face more death and destruction of our own, for no reason other than that we 'offend' a group of misguided fanatics used by rogue nation's leaders to do the killing for them they fear to do themselves.

Yes, patriotism is easy and killing is hard but as an old communist (Leon Trotsky) once said;

"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you"

So it seems to be, even now in 2002, and yes, people still die in war, tears are shed and families grieve on both sides. Life goes on and we must deal with it - even in war - as best we can and do what we think is right. Soldiers in wars are doing that - on both sides.

This is life and human nature and we all cope with it as best we can. It's part of maturity to see this harsh reality and come to grips with it. Some become pacifists, some soldiers and some, like me, support our soldiers and yes, I cheer our war victories but only because I believe we are doing the right thing against evil. The terrorists think likewise of us. So be it.

I hope you're able to reconcile the horrors of war with the necessity of it, as I have. It takes time. You'll get there.
This doesn't mean you'll like war, no you'll hate it as most reasonable people do, but you'll see the necessity and the need for patriotism (sometimes) and be able to understand why people can cheer when 'our side' wins the battle and hundreds of 'enemy' soliders lie dead and stinking on a sun-scorched field in Asia in the mid 1960's.

Thanks for your observations. You're a sensitive guy and your concerns are valid. Hope I've shed a tiny sliver of light on the issue for you.