But our troops in World War II killed prisoners and abused them, abused civilians, made terrible lethal mistakes, failed to plan properly, failed to commit a large enough Army, and acted for political reasons. In other words, they fought a war. And despite their failings, they fought it more cleanly than usual for combatants. And they fought for a good cause.
But of course, like our current war, not everybody thought it was a good war. Max Boot has this interesting passage:
Even in January 1942, when German armies were at the gates of Moscow, George Orwell wrote in Partisan Review that "the greater part of the very young intelligentsia are anti-war … don't believe in any 'defense of democracy,' are inclined to prefer Germany to Britain, and don't feel the horror of Fascism that we who are somewhat older feel."
As if to illustrate Orwell's point, a pacifist poet named D.S. Savage wrote a reply in which he explained why he "would never fight and kill for such a phantasm" as "Britain's 'democracy.' " Savage saw no difference between Britain and its enemies because under the demands of war both were imposing totalitarianism: "Germans call it National Socialism. We call it democracy. The result is the same."
Savage naively wondered, "Who is to say that a British victory will be less disastrous than a German one?" Savage thought the real problem was that Britain had lost "her meaning, her soul," but "the unloading of a billion tons of bombs on Germany won't help this forward an inch." "Personally," he added, with hilarious understatement, "I do not care for Hitler." But he thought the way to resist Hitler was by not resisting him: "Whereas the rest of the nation is content with calling down obloquy on Hitler's head, we regard this as superficial. Hitler requires, not condemnation, but understanding."
The Greatest Generation had its idiots, too, insulated from the reality they believed in so much by those who fought and died to protect them:
Orwell's words, written in October 1941, ring true today: "The notion that you can somehow defeat violence by submitting to it is simply a flight from fact. As I have said, it is only possible to people who have money and guns between themselves and reality."
For the modern age, I'd make it money, guns, and lawyers, but the reality is the same.
Kill the enemy. Let historians in the next generation understand them.
And remember that the history of a good war fought by good men who advanced relentlessly with no self-doubts and sterling judgment is a myth. History is made by those who live it and not passed down in a book as if it could only turn out the way written. For those who fought and won our "good" war, winning did not seem inevitable nor did it seem universally good. But once won, who could admit to feeling doubt? Who would wonder about our cause? Who would admit to thinking the defeated enemy was little different that ourselves? We are living history right now. Winning or losing is largely up to us and our allies. Thus far, we are in the same boat as our fathers and grandfathers who fought--and won--the good war in 1945.
