The important thing about both quotes is that whether the purpose behind the war is noble or venal, lofty or petty, subtly complex or insultingly simple - SOMEONE STARTED IT It's never just a natural disaster, it doesn't just happen
-
-
Show this thread
-
And the tendency to treat war as though it did just happen, like bombs and shells are the same as hurricanes and earthquakes as though someone didn't have to give an explicit order to someone else to pull the trigger and drop them on you - Well, it's Orwellian
Show this thread -
It's one of the few completely unambiguously correct uses of the word "Orwellian", his essay specifically called out the use of passive voice in war reporting as grotesque lying by omission
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
more specifically clausewitz means that war isn't a self-contained technical exercise "best left to the generals" war invariably, inevitably means a constant balancing of aims and costs--questions of values and politics and treating it otherwise generally leads to catastrophe
-
with iraq of course being a pretty perfect illustration of that with the united states being able to "win" the conventional war quickly, decisively, overwhelmingly then getting trapped in an endless mire of "what are we doing here"
- Show replies
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.