You would be right if you did say what I’ve suggested. The only justification for war that I could endorse would be that following one war – and only one – humanity can take that one bloodbath as a lesson and handle its conflicts differently.

I don’t want to put a damper on an article that possibly was meant to lighten the heavy weight of our thoughts and experiences of war – but I think at this time, in the 21stC, after all we’ve put ourselves and one another through – we need to not try and escape the reality of what war means to those caught up in it, or to those on whose lands it is staged.

Too many people are “reassured” about war if “something good can come of it”. We don’t need that kind of “justification”. Many believe that the US getting to the Moon was “among if not the greatest achievements of humankind in the 20thC.” I disagree. South African Truth and Reconcilliation efforts were *far*, *far*, more difficult for every individual involved. It is not to humankind’s credit that we habitually wriggle away from the challenging task of understanding human and group psychology and how trans-generational cultural “dogmas” arise that prevent us from finding peace.