Americans and War

I was reading a war book one day (Dispatches by Michael Herr-great read) when My piped up and said, "You like war. Americans love war."

I was indignant at first. "No we aren't! We like freedom... and stuff. Some of us are great people."

"Then why are you always at war with somebody?"

I wanted to say, "because the people who remember World War II aren't dead yet, the entire country has yet to come to grips with what happened in Vietnam, and since the end of the Cold War, we've been itching to get our greedy hands all over Asia, and since 2001 we finally have an excuse."- but i don't think she'd accept that answer.

I had to agree with her. In some way, somehow, we are constantly either physically or financially involved in a war.

Even things that aren't even actually wars. Like the "war on drugs" or the "war on poverty". Why is everything always a "war"? The term implies a righteous and fixed position, from where a clear and delineated enemy shall be smitten. The word is too simple, and really- what actually came out of the "war on drugs"? Didn't stop meth.

The war in Vietnam was lost largely because one country started a war against another country without even bothering to learn about who they were fighting. It is a valuable and overlooked lesson these days.

I'd like to suggest a different terminology for the "war on terrorism", and therefore perhaps a different strategy: "the investigation into finding the solution to the grudges of all people so that we don't have to kill each other anymore."

Or is that too long? Maybe an acronym?