It's another war. It isn't the first one by a long shot.
History of War - timeline
Whether this latest ugliness is warranted isn't my call. No matter how many documents, evidence, politically slanted (from
every side,
every country, from
every citizen) media source, or even undeniable evidence (i.e. beheadings, hostages), I'm not about to be a backseat driver to the mechanics of war. I haven't walked a mile in the shoes of anyone privy to enough
unbiased, trustworthy information to make such a massive decision that risks the lives of so many.
People proclaiming unyielding certainty tend to bother me. Ask anyone exonerated by Project Innocence about unyielding certainty.
Assigning blame isn't my business. The blame game seems like a fruitless endeavor. It provides a convenient target for situational anger. Finding fault with people is too easy a task, especially given the abundance of glass houses. Recrimination is a distraction from the immediate task at hand which is to preserve life and find a resolution.
War has been engrained in mankind for a very long time. Often I find ideology, money, and radical religion are the usual instigators. It boils down to something older than the world's oldest profession: Man's inhumanity to man.
That said I do recognize that sometimes it is necessary to intervene militarily when a person, or persons, jeopardize the lives of people en masse. I'm just not going to join in speculation regarding culpability. It is an endeavor with little hope of justice or solution. In today's very changed environment, money, easily disseminated disinformation, directed power play, and all too convenient manipulation of the mob who wield the torches and pitchforks of well crafted information endlessly spoon fed to them to the point of forced conclusion, those actually guilty are exonerated. By the same means others are judged guilty.
These are only my personal observations. I have come to the conclusion that
for my own well being facing groups of people whose convictions are etched in stone, who are unwilling to find any middle ground of agreement, is too upsetting to witness. It runs counter to logical thinking. When I consider humanity's future I find myself succumbing to a condition to which I am already predisposed, depression.
My thoughts now are for those men and women who will in all likelihood be placed in harms way. The circumstances leading us to this juncture are largely unimportant to me. Mankind hasn't learned any lessons about war, save escalation, in aeons. People's lives matter more to me now more than anything.