I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell. — William Tecumseh Sherman
After years of George W. Bush referring to himself as a “wartime president,” even President-elect Obama consistently refers to the nation “at war” and facing “two wars.” The potential retention of Robert Gates as Defense secretary is lauded by the congnoscenti as a wise move because this is the first time since 1952 that the nation has changed commanders-in-chief “during wartime.”
But are the challenges we’re facing really war?
It surely feels that way to the men and women in combat. Yet the home front has seemed anything but. In the aftermath of 9/11, when the nation might have been asked to make transformative sacrifices, we were told to go shopping. We may be facing some fresh hell, but I’m not sure we’re really at war. Words matter, informing not only mindsets but policy. With Obama’s election, we get a fresh start. So it might be useful to honestly consider the complex situations that truly confront us.
译文:
我们真的处于战争中吗？
我对战争感到厌倦并深恶痛绝。它的辉煌全都是空谈。这只是那些没有开枪射杀也没有听到伤者因为流血、复仇、遗弃而尖叫呻吟的人。战争就是地狱。—威廉·提康普赛·谢尔曼
多年来乔治·W·布什称自己为“战时总统”，即使是总统当选人奥巴马也一贯认为国家处于战争中，而且是面临着两场战争。罗伯特·盖茨可能继续留任国防部部长，此举被专家们认为是明智之举，因为这是继1952年战争期间总会更换总司令以来的首次留任。
但这是我们真正面临战争的挑战吗？
战火中的人们当然有这种感觉，但战场外的后方却完全是另一种气氛。9/11过后，当国家被迫作出一些有变革性的牺牲时，我们却被告知要去消费。我们可能会面临一些新的地狱，但我不确定我们是真的处在战争中。文字影响，信息不仅表现心态，更体现政策。随着奥巴马的选举，我们得到了一个新的开始。因此，真的考虑一下我们真实面对的复杂情况，这也许会有用。