Can you count the number of wars our world has seen? Probably not. Too many to count. There are probably some wars we might’ve not even heard about, too. That’s pretty much the be-all and end-all of humanity, unfortunately: it’s war. Conflict. Sometimes it defines us. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, because there are some wars that are completely justified, such as the two World Wars of our planet. When we fight for the right to have peace and freedom, it’s plainly obvious that it’s justified.
The sad thing, though, is the state of foreign relations afterward–and that goes for any kind of war, justified or not. There’s always a lot history built up from any kind of bitterness, but it takes a President or a Prime Minister or whoever to make the amends and look past the bitter history. Only then can the future find its way.
Nevertheless, there’s always a tyrant out there to overcome (Saddam Hussein). And it probably will never end–this thing called the “war on terror.” While it can present shaky situations when it comes to foreign relations, one then has to step back and look at the whole picture, asking the important question: is it all worth it?
Well, let’s see–the Union soldiers who died during the Civil War for the sake of freedom, the drowning dead of Pearl Harbor for nothing, countless others on D-day, Anne Frank, Iwo Jima, Desert Storm, the World Trade Center, Flight 93, the Pentagon, Iraqi Freedom. Get the picture? Would you want those who suffered and died to simply sit there and look at all of us as we say it was for nothing? That they weren’t worth it?
Yes, foreign relations will always be a difficulty–but that’s what makes it worthwhile, even when it’s damaged by death and suffering.