Your last sentence is a tell. War is one of the most studied, explored, dissected, investigated, and written-about topics in the history of literature. SOME people romanticize war...some. Not all. You generalized ALL in your statement and that is simply incorrect. There are millions of Chris Kyles with equally brutal realities. You need look no further than Carlos Hathcock and the bicycle full of AK's. Yes, another dead boy. He also HUNTED "Apache"...the code name for the most brutal sniper/interrogator the VC had...and it was a woman. You seem to be floating in a sea of poop and looking out of the boat and proclaiming your hatred for that one poop. That one poop makes you mad.
All of these things are the nature of mankind. Its unfortunate. Its reckless. Its unapologetic. Its criminal. Its sad. Its not ever going to stop. I don't say this because I like war, I say it because percentages are on my side that wars, struggles and conflicts will continue as long as the human element is top of the food chain. And, because it has never ceased in the history of mankind.
You're cherrypicking current events to support a position that is penalizing the players by hating the game. Given your logic on soldier recognition, cops should be marginalized because crime sucks? Firemen shouldn't be recognized because fires destroy lives and property? This list is endless...those fellas are heros dude. If for no other reason than they understood and volunteered to be called upon to catch bullets with their bodies in defense of their friends, allies and bystanders.
Fine, you have a point. We understand it. Most just don't make any outward attempt at empathizing unless it's brother who had a kid blown to hell.
I have nothing against soldiers they are a regrettable necessity. However, at least in the United States, the less educated (read: majority) seems to feel that criticism is mutually exclusive with recognition and care of veterans.
I guess my real problem is its typically the same love muffines who profess to "support our troops" that also get all giddy at Cruz's "glowing sand" comment, and general war mongering without even a semblance of a coherent strategy.
In any case, war may be part of human nature, but that doesn't mean we should accept it and move on.
You're getting a bit loose with the analogies there. Firefighters jobs isn't to burn down other people's houses. Police don't combat crime being criminals (for the most part). If you go the doctor route, doctors don't fight cancer by giving you more cancer in the hopes that it'll drive off the first cancer.
