I'm of the belief that war is not only necessary, but desirable. Peace doesn't kill the enemy.

giblets, I'm no "lover" of war; I just have certain things that I prize more than peace. The way I've always expressed it is that there's two kinds of friends I don't want: those who will run screaming towards battle ... and those who will run screaming away from it. As to the strategy of things; well, as Oxen said, this is a StrategyPage after all, but there's also the issue that we have to deal with just like the media does: there aren't enough truly earthshattering events taking place every day to have every discussion be meaningful. So we speculate and hypothesize to pass the time while we basically twiddle our thumbs waiting until whatever is going to happen begins. --Phoenix Rising

"...but do you look forward to conflicts like Iraq,..." Nope. War is ugly, nasty, brutal, and not something that any sane human being should actually wish for or look fwd to. But, sometimes, one has to fight -- there are those on this planet who will never be swayed from their desire to force their unwanted will/government/religion/whatever upon the innocent peoples of other lands (or even "their" own land). Words will never affect their decisions, and lesser measures will not suffice. Only the use of force will prevent some of these persons from eventually fullfilling these unwanted goals. One major disadvantage to being a pacifist is that one day they meet such a person, and their staunch conviction will do nothing to prevent the other from his actions. Sad, but true. NewGuy

I like Robert E. Lee's old quote, "It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." That sentiment, of course, didn't stop him from fighting, and fighting hard--and it didn't stop thousands of men from willing to fight for him. No civilized country wants war, but paradoxically, it is simply *because* of this that entire civilizations are defined by what they consider worth fighting for. No one can afford to fight over everything, and no one can survive if they will fight over nothing. --Phoenix Rising

Peace can only be shared by true friends.

We all love arms as a craft. And presumably many of us use this as a way to express their aggresive instincts. We are no more war-lovers than murder-mystery readers are "murder lovers" Strategy is ideally a way of minimising the suffering that results from conflict. Of course that only goes so far in practice as Clausewitz noted somewhere. Still we can also say we are all "peace lovers". Just as a doctor,even though he studies sickness is a health lover.

This writer would never want to be IN a war. Can't stand the sight of eviscerated remains and the waste of it all. However he has great interest of the people/forces who fight in it and the weapons and gear they go to battle in. Add in the 'HOW' a war is fought and you have a academic paradise. Example, this writer 100% supported Operation Enduring Freedom against AQ becoz payback was due. However, while he has some misgivings about the Iraq conflict, he just wants the US armed forces to WIN and their members to come back SAFE, the Iraqis to get co-existential peace at last and any AQ jihadi screwing around there to end up DEAD. Some wars are 'right' and others are downright stupid where you can't symphatise with any side. I've mentioned two wars that are 'Right' and 'Ambiguous' ones above, time for a totally stupid war of pointless slaughter and I'd say the Rwandan genocide and the Lebanese civil war.

To cut the message short, believe in peace backed up by threat of massive retaliation.

War is a ridiculously negative thing that should never happen...but when it does, it's utterly and completely fascinating.

A better question is in what way are we war lovers? People who like murder mysterys seldom like them because of malice toward the victim, they like the mental challange that the act gives. People who like Shakespeare tradgedies don't like seeing the hero & heroine suffer, they like feeling pity for the hero & heroine. Likewise people like hearing about war, just like they like hearing about the sea, the dessert, the jungle, and any other dangerous thing. Danger makes for drama. People also like having their aggresive instinct fueled vicariously. We have an aspect in us that is like the war horse in Job 39:19-25(..."as often as he hears the trumpet sounds he says 'aha!'/ And he scents the battle from afar/And thunder of the captains and the war cry"-New American Standard Bible). This part of us is simply because we are part animals and have the necessary survival instincts of such. Pacifists will no doubt say "why can't we channal that into something constructive" To which I will say,"we are , we are increasing knowledge by 'studying war'. And as I said before we also love the craft of arms as a craft. The way we would love other crafts. If people will forgive the anology, we are not really all that much different from sports enthusiasts. Sure people get hurt in war, but we don't usually have to see it. Some would say we should feel our neighbors suffering more, but lets face it none of us do and if we did we would go insane, there is so much suffering out there. Advances in any craft come to a large degree from those who study it for their own pleasure. This alone justifies our existance. If civilization is to survive the civilized have to fight as well as those who would do them harm. If we all detested war on every level we would be at a disadvantage before robbers and predators. So the real question is not whether we "are war lovers". The real question is whether we actually desire that others suffer, or simply take pleasure in studying a phenomenon to which suffering is a necessary but regretable part. If anyone here really desires to hear the cries of the widow and the orphan, he is in great need of help. A better question would be, "Would we, as 'war-lovers' prefer to see ourselves in the role of the torturer enjoying the pain of the captive, or the gallant knight who frees the captive?" If the answer is what I expect, then we are simply people expressing their tastes in a harmless and sometimes beneficial way. A lot of people had cause to be grateful that Patton was a "war-lover".