Are you pro-war, anti-war, or somewhere in between?

I guess I could be considered in the middle. I'm not pro war in a sense that I think we should run around attacking anybody to disrespects us on TV, but I am a rational person who understands that war is an absolute necessity. Saying that war is never the answer and being super passive sounds cute on paper but the real world doesn't work that way.

I believe in preemptive strikes as well. I do not hold on to the belief that war should only be waged in direct self defense situations such as waiting for somebody to show up at our doorstep before we do anything about them. Defense isn't simply fighting back once somebody punches you in the mouth, defense is doing everything you can to make sure somebody can't get strong enough or close enough to punch you in the mouth. If that means going to their house and punching them out first because you know they don't like you and are working out in their basement gearing up for a fight then so be it.

People love to fantasize about a utopia where we all live happily ever after together and all of that. Saying things like if we just all laid down our guns then it would all be ok. Sure, but I will ALWAYS hold on to the notion of "You first". No taking the initiative or setting the example or any of that. Only a fool would follow such a protocol.

Now this isn't to paint a picture that I love war, quite the opposite. As somebody who has fought in plenty of them I absolutely hate them, as does anybody else who has actually been in one and isn't medically psychotic. Those who think war is cool are usually children who grew up playing video games or those arm chair generals who watch tv and read books and think about how awesome a real life Tom Clancy novel would be. But no, war is not fun, at all, none of it is even remotely fun. Like the old saying goes, war is 90% boredom and 10% sheer terror. Neither of those two things qualify as "fun".

But it is necessary, diplomacy doesn't always work. It sounds cute to say things like "war is never the answer or if diplomacy fails then you have failed". No, this is real life. Sometimes you can't solve issues via diplomacy and appeasement is NEVER the right answer. Sometimes war is the only answer.

I would absolutely LOVE a world that lived in peace. I am a huge space guy, I always imagine what advances we could make in space exploration if all nations could dump their defense budgets in their science and especially space organizations. What would NASA and the ESA be like if we dumped 800 billion dollars into them per year instead of bombs and bullets? Would we already have humans on Mars? Would our James Webb telescope already be out there snapping pictures of exoplanets? Would we already have drilled through Europa's ice sheet and dropped a probe in the ocean below?

We'll never know because we can't afford it right now, we can't afford it because we have to spend so much money on bombs and bullets and ensure that we remain alone atop the mountain when it comes to warfare. Now as much as I LOVE space I would NEVER advocate we cut the massive defense budget to give NASA a pay raise. Not until the world learns how to act right. Being as powerful as America is happens to be a weapon within itself. The majority of our foreign problems can be solved via diplomacy simply because we usually have the cards stacked in our favor due to the massive military and economic machine at our disposal. Intimidation plays a huge role in world politics and I have no issue with us being the ones doing the intimidating. As it stands now a conventional war with the US is simply not fair because our military is so much more powerful than everyone elses. And I personally have no issue with widening the gap even further and keeping it that way.

Maybe one day our future generations will see a world without war. I highly doubt it, but maybe, hopefully. But right now, war is a reality and a part of life. Don't praise it, don't enjoy it, and don't advocate it, but when the time comes, don't run.