Making love while making war is what we see in Game of Thrones. Real life, however, entertains no such fantasy. For all I know, real love is no entertainment and real war is no game.
War is real enough when peace is phony enough. Going to war, we say we love our country so much that we are willing to shed blood for it. In the same breath, we hate war so much that we are unwilling to leave our loved ones whom we may never see again. Generations of Americans before us have been caught in this dilemma. Most of them survived it, only to see yet another outbreak of war.
If war is so inevitable, then we should choose our battles wisely and fight for what really matters. Ukraine makes sense in this regard.
In Ukraine, America has turned Putin's invasion into a proxy war which is a throwback to the Cold War era. A proxy war may not spare weapons, but it spares American lives. American weapons are replaceable, American lives are not. If the White House cannot sell peace, at least it can sell a proxy war. Hawks get a bigger defense budget. Doves get no body bags from the war zone. This proxy war is viable and sustainable, politically and militarily.
Going forward, make war when we must. Make peace when we can. Make love when we must and when we can.
紉秋蘭原創
*I am open to comments in either Chinese or English or both.
Google Image from the New Yorker
