Reply #153: No War is ever worth it.

[genie_weenie]

Nobody but the dead know whether all these things people talk about are worth dying for or not. And the dead can't talk. So the words about noble deaths and sacred blood and honor and such are all put into dead lips by grave robbers and fakes who have no right to speak for the dead. If a man says death before dishonor he is either a fool or a liar because he doesn't know what death is. - Johnny Got His Gun

Every war has at it's base the acquisition of territory. No war has ever been necessary, that's why leaders always have to couch their base reasons for going to war in some noble cloak, "Remember the Maine!", "Halt the Hun, the Womanhood of Belgium is at stake.", Allah, God, Amon-Ra, whomever wills it.

Slavery wasn't the true issue of the Civil War, the control of the economy of the South and the rich land owners fear of Northern Dominance. Black/White relations in America have always been used to separate poor whites and blacks from uniting against the control the rich and powerful have exercised over them.

In WWI, the 3rd Republic of France wanted to regain the land lost to Prussian (afterward the German Empire) and revenge the "insult" of the Prussians using Versailles to crown the German Emperor in 1871. The Prussians were angry over the French conquest of "their land" by the French Armies of Napoleon. And the question goes back further to the Free Country of Burgundy and the Duchy of Burgundy, one supported the Hapsburgs one was absorbed by the French Crown. And you could follow this back to the division of Charlemagne's Empire in 814.

The Cathars in Southern "France" (Languedoc) were some of the most pious peoples in History actually following the teachings of Christ. So-called Saint Dominic tried to convince them to follow the path of the corrupted Church of Rome but they declined. This angered Dominic and lead to the creation of the Medieval Inquisition which was zealous enforced by Dominicans. And then angered that the "Heretics" wouldn't convert the French King Philip II Augustus (he of the Lion in Winter and the Pope Innocent III decided a 20 year campaign of murder and destruction was needed. And of course, the lands then went into the control of nobles who fought in the "Crusade" and the Crown and Church.

Look at the battles of Israel, Ireland, and Kashmir. The all trace their roots back to control of the land and some empire or ruler who through fire and sword controlled the land, but which now a new generation struggles to gain freedom.

And as for Hitchens, "You can always hear the people who are willing to sacrifice somebody else's life. They're plenty loud and they talk all the time. You can find them in churches and schools and newspapers and legislatures and congress. That's their business. They sound wonderful. Death before dishonor. This ground sanctified by blood. These men who died so gloriously.
They shall not have died in vain. Our noble dead.
Hmmmm.
But what do the dead say?- Johnny Got His Gun