In war, it feels like everything you're doing is more important because you're in the proximity of violence and death, and that proximity changes your relationship to America because it changes the way you see the world.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Going to war is a rare experience in American culture, so it's easy for simple notions to gain a lot of weight. The reality is always more complex.
We all know that in war the political and military factors have to complement each other.
War is like love; it always finds a way.
Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic rivalry and social injustice.
I always felt that if countries knew each other better, there would be less war. Often, conflict goes with demonizing other countries and cultures.
In war, people find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, and in those circumstances, they act in extraordinary ways. In war, you see people at their very best and their very worst, acting in ways you could never imagine. War is human drama at its most epic and most intense.
When you go to war, it's important for everybody to know that they're going to come home in one way or other.
There is nothing glamorous or romantic about war. It's mostly about random pointless death and misery.
War is usually fought over diminishing resources, particulary those that we perceive to be extremely valuable.
What makes war interesting for Americans is that we don't fight war on our soil, we don't have direct experience of it, so there's an openness about the meanings we give to it.