War is like bad weather.  It comes and goes.

It diesnt matter what you think of it.  Its an overpowering part of human nature.

Just be smart enough to stay out of the rain, or find shelter when need be.

I was in the eye of a hurricane once, and was surprised by the eiree silence and stillness in the midst of a circle of 100 + winds, realizing that we still had half of that to go.

of course, the birds and all the other creatures evacuated ahead of the storm.  Thats why it was so quiet.

I know you love my stories, so I will tell you another one.  I was there because my mom was dying in the hospital.  I was staying at my brothers house in Delaware, an nice brick house that weathered the storm without damage.  As the hurricane approached, we were told we had to leave the hospital because they did not want to be responisble for anyone but staff and patients.

Friday night, on the way there from DC, I asked the Spirit what was going to happen.  Several times the doctors had said she would not make it rhrough the night and the next mornng she was sitting up in bed barking orders, as usual.  The Spirit said, *She will not be able to withstand the force of the hurricane.  When the eye if the hurrican reaches her, she will die.*  The hurricane was still a tropical storm at that time, located down around Central America and expected to go up into the Gulf of Mexico.

It did turn into a hurricane, and it did go up into the Gulf of Mexico.  Then it hopped over the Florida peninsula and came up the Eastern coastline, into Chesapeake Bay and up into Delaware.  When the eye of the hurricane passed over the hospital that mom was in, she died.

That was a hell of a call, for any weatherman, to predict the path of a hurricane from that distance.  And how was it that mom could not withstand the force of the storm, you may ask?  I did some research and the barometric pressure inside the eye of a hurricane is 15 to 20 degrees lower that outside.  She could not withstand a sudden drop in barometric pressure, and she died right on cue.

Quote: "War is not weather.  It is a choice. "
.........

Roosevelt made the choice to have an embargo of Japan in response to the Sino-Japanese war ongoing at the time.

Japan needed the raw materials so badly that they were faced with a choice of attacking the US or foregoing further military action in SE Asia.

Hitler made a decision to declare war against the US after Japan had.

Italy made the same choice.

Some of our choices are choices, while others are foisted upon us by circumstance.

Personally, I would have chosen to let Germany have France, although England might have worked out a treaty to get back Celtic Britany in return for non-aggression.

In 1959, DeGaule entered into the Ellyse Treaty with Germany, which provided for a mutual defense, including defense contracts, and a mutual foreign policy.  This amounts either to a merger or a pre-surrender, depending on how you look at it.  It also provides Germany with a defacto seat on the UN Security Council via France.

The French have been unhappy with Americans since WWII.  The Germans occupied France, but actually did little physical damage.  The Americans and other Allies 'liberated' France, but not until everything that could be destroyed had been.  Oh yeah, we also liberally liberated their women.

War.  One thing leads to another.  One day a disagreement, and the next you are shooting at each other.  And once someone shoots the dye is cast.

I agree with you, more dialogue would forestall further conflict.

Hitler made choices that left other world leaders no choice but to go to war.  Similarly, after Japans attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler felt he had no choice but to declare war on the US, even though that was his worst possible choice.  Polls had it that 90% of Americans wanted to stay out of the war in Europe and would have focused entirely on the war in the Pacific.

I recall that after Osam Bin Laden chose to attack on 9/11, the US felt it had no choice but to go after him, and the Afghan govt supporting him.  I remember the faces of the Afghans in the newsreels.  One old man said, *You are here looking for Osam Bin Laden.  We are all Osama Bin Laden*.  I could clearly see the hatred in the eyes of the Afghan children, and thought to myself, *This is never going to be over*.

Our choices lead to the choices of others.  I remember when I was married, I eventually learned not to argue.  I couldnt win that way.  So I learned to negotiate.  She still got whatever she wanted, but at least I got something in return.