Reply #26: I wouldn't discount the fact that WWII and Korea were wars where the vast majority

[bertman]

of the warriors felt that they were truly fighting to save the world or the South Koreans, and possibly whoever else the Chinese decided to back. Vietnam and Iraq are wars of choice. For the men, and now women, who fought and are still fighting in those wars, it became obvious that the altruistic reasons they were given for fighting were just propaganda. But propaganda or not, they still are in a war, experiencing the horrors, but without the sense of self-worth and true personal sacrifice that a "noble cause" engenders.

Fighting to protect someone or something from a true enemy is different from fighting to protect the right of Big Oil to dominate the Middle East.