[Anfester]

And I can see how easy it is for someone who has never been to war to think like that.

And i understand that people who have been there need to invent myths in order to pretend there is some deeper meaning that the "uninitiated" cannot understand. I'm sure it helps people cope with the ultimate stupidity of it all.

The reality is as i stated, people killing people senselessly - no great mystery. It is a rather ancient reality. I do not need to be part of it to understand what it is.

Go a head and criticise, I have no problem with that at all. Just don't get all pissy when those of use who have been at the sharp end of the spear laugh you off. Right. I'm just saying that people who have been should not expect those of us who have not to support or shrug off such senseless acts of cruelty. You should expect us to be angry about it.

You want to lecture me, someone who has been in that reality, as to what is really going down and what it is like? Not at all. I just don't really give a shit what "it is like" from that perspective. I want to know what is achieved, what the results are, and why i have to pay for what only appears to me as stupid and cruel. No matter what your experience is or those of your comrades it does not matter or change the reality of the situation - which is not good, not victorious, not glamorous, and not meaningful. It is pathetic.

Andrew