Richard Engel Is Very, Very Sad About U.S. Leaving Afghanistan

Hedges explores his own profession, offering a sobering perspective on the role the media plays in supporting the “cause” of war. This ties back to the mythical nature of war, and he uses the Gulf War of the 1990s as an example of the ways the media and notes that journalists—including himself—always believe the cause of their nation is justified. He argues that this belief is the same whether the cause is religious or secular in nature, and that reporters are part of the machinery that keeps nations going to war.

Hedges ends the book with a study of the effects that the “narcotic” of war has on individuals. He uses his own experience with soldiers and other journalists to underscore the addictive nature of war, describing the rush of adrenaline and euphoria that can accompany battles and the deep lows that follow after the mind and body “crash” after the excitement. This is very similar what a drug addict experiences—intense highs followed by dreadful lows that can, in the short term, only be cured by chasing another high. He notes the prevalence of drug use and addiction among soldiers and how it intensifies when they return home, seeking to replicate their experiences.

Hedges’ book is a singular work that studies war not from a military or tactical point of view, but as a psychological phenomenon. His arguments that myth is essential to warfare and that manipulation of nationalist and ethnic identities to perpetuate it—and that individuals enjoy war in complex ways that may be difficult to explain—are innovative ways of pondering why civilizations spend so much blood and treasure fighting each other.