The Biggest Problem with War

The biggest problem with war is that it makes political hatreds personal hatreds. The reason is not that difficult to understand. Close friendships form in the military; and people hate their enemy for killing their best friends.

This is very unfortunate, as in many cases these people would otherwise be friends. As Thomas Hardy said,

Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn
We would have sat down and wet
Right many a nipperkin.

A woman from Missouri who's traveled to Germany once told me that the older Germans who fought in the Second World War were very similar to the American people she knew in Missouri. Surely there can be a better way for these people to co-exist than by killing each other.

War should be a weapon of last resort. Much more needs to be done by way of changing people's minds and diplomacy to avoid this unfortunate scenario.