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I am without a doubt a progressive liberal. On the other hand, I come from a military family, believe in very Machivellian tactics in war and have spent a fair share of my time handling firearms. Unlike so many conservatives, I don't romanticize war or weaponry. Weapons are for killing. And assault weapons and armor piercing bullets are for killing PEOPLE. A war to me meant my father and brothers could be killed. It wasn't a chance for them to be heroes or kill lots of "evil-doers." War is not a first person shooter game. Weapons kill real people. We can't undo any mistakes we make. These are not debatable issues. And, yet, thanks to our political grandstanding, creative renaming of horrific acts and technological shielding...we forget about War being Hell and having a very personal side.
One inescapable consequence of war is...
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/02/john-brennan-and-the-truth-about-drones.html
...the death of innocents.
There is an original Star Trek episode that featured a "clean" war. Civilians designated as killed by the computers would simply report to killing stations for neat execution. Kirk argued, quite passionately, that what makes war Hell is that it is messy and random and damned scary. That's why we long to put a stop to war and work so hard for peace, because we can't take the consequences of continuing the conflict. The problem with our Drone wars is that we are sheltered from consequences. Someone can sit quietly in Utah, under no personal risk, and kill men, women and children on the other side of the world. We are the ones who should end these wars, but we don't have to live with the damages or face the realities of loss. You never see the bloody bodies of children covered in the nightly news reports. Because...oh, dear...we don't want to think that we are killing children with our bombs...or our guns. But these deaths are hardly surprising. Perhaps, it is an inability to recognize the purpose of war and weapons that allows this sort of thing to happen.
One inescapable consequence of war is...
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/02/john-brennan-and-the-truth-about-drones.html
...the death of innocents.
There is an original Star Trek episode that featured a "clean" war. Civilians designated as killed by the computers would simply report to killing stations for neat execution. Kirk argued, quite passionately, that what makes war Hell is that it is messy and random and damned scary. That's why we long to put a stop to war and work so hard for peace, because we can't take the consequences of continuing the conflict. The problem with our Drone wars is that we are sheltered from consequences. Someone can sit quietly in Utah, under no personal risk, and kill men, women and children on the other side of the world. We are the ones who should end these wars, but we don't have to live with the damages or face the realities of loss. You never see the bloody bodies of children covered in the nightly news reports. Because...oh, dear...we don't want to think that we are killing children with our bombs...or our guns. But these deaths are hardly surprising. Perhaps, it is an inability to recognize the purpose of war and weapons that allows this sort of thing to happen.