Why is that so?

Submitted by Farid H. (Germany), Aug 21, 2006 at 03:10

One deeply ingrained belief in the West that tops everything else: war is BAD. Yes, many people are jubilant before a war stats, but as soon as they see the crude realities of fighting: the deaths, the multilated bodies, injuries, blood, people screaming out of pain, burned people in hospitals etc... they recoil back in horror. "Oh no! That's not what we intended - that's not what should have happened! Not THIS!"

In the western world (in the broader sense, not restricted to America, Australia and Europe alone!), we've grown up without such ghastly pictures -- they've been carefully censored away from TV and other sources -- so our horrified reaction is more than understandable. This is our weakest spot, and our opponents know it all too well.

The real question is: with the increasing number of wars in recent years, will we get used to this? Or will we more and more oppose fighting altogether? Most of Europe is already extremely reluctant to send troops abroad (forget about the few exceptions), and most of the world follows suit. Only the US and its strongest allies are still somewhat war-enthusiastic, but this enthusiasm is dwindling fast.

That's the reason we'll see more of the "I-have-more-victims-than-you" kind of reportings in upcoming wars. It pays off all too well.

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