Just saw The Hurt Locker tonight. Solid war flick. But it’s not for my consumption level, really. There was a scene — several perhaps — that made me think: there’s no way I can understand war. A film can’t even get close to the feeling.
I understand why my dad didn’t like war, but I wonder what it was like for him to be unsettled as an Army helicopter pilot. The military provided such a identity for him no matter troubled he felt.
I look around my life, my house, my soft beautiful family and I can’t imagine any country in the world not wanting to have those same things. I can’t comprehend the dichotomy of life-embracing and life-erasing among all humans on Earth.
I do understand what people call the necessity of war: as a manner of defense to protect oneself or others. But isn’t there a better way? What lies in the spirit of man that wants to conquer, rule, kill and fight?
These questions cannot be answered, and there’s something very wrong with that. I’m usually an optimist but war is something that spoils it all for everyone.