In the future, war fought outside of US territories are going to be incredibly cheap in american lives. That is a bit troubling. The cheaper something is, the more of it you get.
I’m not saying I agree with the protestors, but the reason the anti-war movement couldn’t get any traction in the last gulf war was because they didn’t have body bags coming back in the tens of thousands.
When everyone knows a guy who died in the war, you are more sympathetic to ending it. When almost nobody does, it’s hard to get support for an anti-war movement. When Chicago has more shooting deaths of Americans than Afghanistan, well...
“Death, destruction, disease, horror. That’s what war is all about, Anan. That’s what makes it a thing to be avoided. You’ve made it neat and painless, so neat and painless you’ve had no reason to stop it!”
FYI, I’m a civilian and I personally knew one who gave all in Afghanistan, and am connected through others to another in Iraq.