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womzillaFor the last several months, I've been trying to find the original text of a sentiment that I've had brought to mind frequently, and finally I got it.
It is from noted anti-war writer David Drake; it was originally written down in the afterword to his novel Counting the Cost (1987), though I'd heard him say various forms of it before and after that.
I've been paraphrasing this as "When you fight a war, you are allowing your foreign policy to be created by scared eighteen-year-olds with guns", which puts the emphases in different places. I like Drake's particular phrasing a great deal and I'm glad to have it settled.
It is from noted anti-war writer David Drake; it was originally written down in the afterword to his novel Counting the Cost (1987), though I'd heard him say various forms of it before and after that.
When you send a man out with a gun, you create a policymaker. When his ass is on the line, he will do whatever he needs to do.
And if the implications of that bother you, the time to do something about it is before you decide to send him out.
I've been paraphrasing this as "When you fight a war, you are allowing your foreign policy to be created by scared eighteen-year-olds with guns", which puts the emphases in different places. I like Drake's particular phrasing a great deal and I'm glad to have it settled.
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Date: 2004-07-03 09:08 am (UTC)From reading accounts of the Liberian civil war, it was pretty clear that the warlords were allowing their domestic policy to be created by scared 18-year-olds with guns, and a pretty grizzly policy it was, too.
"Won't Get Fooled Again" is not the right song for my emotions. Perhaps the Who have a song titled "Wasn't Fooled the First Time"?