my reading of it and I think I agree with the post is it really isn’t a matter of legitimacy. It’s simply what happens. Young, mostly men, are conscripted, convinced, preconditioned to toddle off to war. While I think there are some mad few for whom it is an outlet for their own aggression, for most they are given a cause, a purpose a grand plan that can galvanise them sufficiently to kill others. Those required to fight who don’t go willingly may be conscripted, punished or killed for their defiance. And once on the battlefield adrenaline, fear and the desire to live makes monsters out of those who in their other life may have been possessed of much gentler sensibilities
The legitimacy or otherwise is determined by the leaders of each warring side and they stilled into the minds of those fighting. There is no objective truth or justification. There are simply reasons
and war is a grubby, mean and brutal thing that strips humans of their humanity. It means that humans get killed - innocent or not because they are always collateral damage. The winning side gets to write the history.
in todays war in the Middle East however we may just be redefining what winning means
