Armies and War

I like history about the Great Wars. I watch films and read books whenever I find time. I have read Winston Churchill's three volumes, starting from the events that led to the Second World War, the political climate in England which led to his appointment as the Prime Minister and Naval Chief. The steps that he took are explained elaborately, along with all the official letters that he sent to other member of the Cabinet and to the armed forces with detailed maps. After the third volume, I started losing track of things... There are six volumes I think. On each volume, his famous quote:

In War: Resolution
In Defeat: Defiance
In Victory: Magnanimity
In Peace: Good Will

Well, now a days wars are fought on the economic battleground. Even the 'real' wars have some political twist. Many believe that the war in Iraq is just a spoof. Those who have watched Moore's documentary (Fahrenheit 9/11) may probably agree.

In films, I cannot understand the American forces. Here you are in a gunfight, bullets zipping by, with American soldiers advancing. Some of them get shot at and fall down. And almost immediately someone goes to help this wounded guy. There are calls for evacuation. Its almost
like the priority is not fighting, but saving lives of the wounded. Well, this goes on in films, I don't know how actually troops fight.

America has never actually seen a war homeland(9/11 was nothing as compared to wars in Europe) , unlike European countries, which were tremendously scarred by the Great Wars. Especially France,
which had to suffer in both the wars. So, it was not surprising that they vehemently opposed war in Iraq. Well, only time will tell which side was correct, but time seems to be running out for America, and personally I think that the post-war Iraq is going to be a big burden on America.