One of the great myths about war is that there is a ground zero, a center stage, where the terrible forces unleashed by it can be witnessed, recounted, and replayed like the launching of a rocket. War is a human activity far too large to be contained in the experience of a single reporter in a single place and time in any meaningful way. When it comes, it happens to everyone. Everything is in its path. Yet this is the allure of war reporting, the chance of acquiring some personal mother lode of truth to beam back to the living rooms of a waiting nation. The fear that comes from reporting on a war is as much a fear of missing this mother load as it is of being injured or killed in battle, and it sets reporters apart from the people who have to fight wars. Soldiers have their own agonies to think about as a battle approaches. Missing the war is not generally one of them. John Hockenberry
About This Quote

There is a myth that we need to witness or experience war in order to understand it. This myth, and the fear of war and the suffering it causes, is what keeps many people from participating in wars. The belief in this myth is based on our ignorance of the human experience. It is not that we do not want to be personally affected by war; we do not want to be victims of it.

We do not want to see the suffering and pain that it creates. We do not want our loved ones to suffer through war either. We do not want to be affected by war in ways we cannot control or understand.

This is why we find it so hard to come to terms with war and why we keep seeing it over and over again in history's pages. However, when we look at history and history's vast expanse, we realize there has never been a war that did not affect everyone in some way. And when we look at the human experience, we realize that even though suffering may occur, all suffering cannot be avoided.

Source: Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, And Declarations Of Independence

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