I heard it again today on the news. Another sad loss of dedicated military lives on the battlefield of Afghanistan. It is reported by the media, and politicians as 'in theatre' and our troops are using 'intelligent weapons'. Is it just me, or are we trying too hard to sanitise war, and what it is? Our troops sign up for lots of reasons, but the one common factor is bravery when they are assigned to be deployed to a war zone. Not a theatre. They use their own skill, and weapons of war, not intelligent weapons.
I am not anti war. I believe there is a time when we must defend ourselves from various threats, and if not on our own soil, then on foreign soil. This has always been the case, but let us see it for what it is. It is not sanitised, or clean. It is war. Loss of life. Severe injury. Loss of limbs. Loss of sanity. We, or at least our government, send our troops into situations around the world where they may come up against others who will fight to keep their own idea of what is worth fighting for. They fight with a completely different set of rules from our 'civilised' society. They may not have any rules to speak of at all. I don't think they see themselves deluded into thinking they are in a 'theatre' or using 'intelligent weapons'. No, I think they have a better idea of what war means, and they are very realistic about loss of life and limb.
What makes the difference? Perhaps one of the reasons is that we are fighting for a principal, or to protect a way of life. They, on the other hand fight for their belief in their 'God' who will reward them in the life to come by their martyrdom. How can a war like that be won, except that the true God is triumphant? What kind of God would you rather have, and believe in, a God of war and martyrdom, or a God of Love and Justice? There are some battles here which may be won and lost, but I have no doubt whose 'God' will ultimately win the war!
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