There is no honor in wanting to start a war. There's
plenty of honor shown by many of those who fight it.
Not every soldier is honorable, just like not every
samurai was honorable. But usually it's not the
soldiers who want to go fight the war. Anyone who
doesn't believe that, I'll take a poll of my friends
and colleagues, and get back to you--I'll ask how many
of them in Iraq and Afghanistan right now are enjoying
themselves, how many wanted to go and be separated
from their families, etc. I doubt I'll get many
positive responses.
Nate Ledbetter
CPT, US Army
Nate,
I would totally agree with this, soldiers/service personnel rarely start a
war, but bear the brunt of the outcome.
As Samurai spent a considerable part of their time doing things other than
actual war, I would suggest they, like all soliders through time, accepted
their duty with good grace and loyalty to their Lord/Commander, when asked
to serve in combat.
I am currently reading Karl Fridays new/recent book, Samurai, Warfare and
the State in Early Medieval Japan, and there he discusses how Samurai were
more interested in progressing up the Court polictical ladder of power and
viewed service in war as a means to an end..
Whilst I am only into the second chapter, based on what I have read so far,
I would recommend it and am looking forward to finishing it off, along side
the various other titles I have to read.
Kind regards
Rob
Rob Broom
Warhammer Historical General Manager
robb@...
www.warhammer-historical.com