Make War, Not Love

The eXile is back! My favorite English-speaking Russian newspaper's
server has been down for a few weeks, but they're back and roaring as
usual. Check especially Gary Brechter's "War Nerd", one of the most
original and informative columns I've ever read. People always say
"write what you know", and this guy practices that to the hilt:
http://www.exile.ru/2005-May-20/war_nerd.html

This being another lonely night without a phone call from the current
female-of-interest, I'm inclined to "revert" back to the old war-loving
self, the one who used to live next door to a WWII fighter pilot and
once created a science fair project all about the air attacks on Pearl
Harbor. Reading "War Nerd" really reminds me of the sensible, rational,
goal-oriented A to B nature of warfare. Contrary to the many
existentialist war films of the last 30-50 years, tonight I'm
completely enamored with idea of Warfare as a truly noble way-of-life.
Hyperstition couldn't agree more in their analysis of the US's War on
Terror: http://hyperstition.abstractdynamics.org/archives/005641.html

What is it that makes war and warfare so cool? The epic strategies. The
straining against limitations. The seemingly impossible coming together
of diverse logistical maneuvers. The cold-blooded, non-emotional modes
of action. The clear goals. The discipline, the rigor, the aesthetics.
Contrast this with what we know about Romantic Love, with its
vagueness, hyper-subjectivity, intuitional overkill, frustrated
expectations, mysterious intentions. War's intentions are clear, and
war gets results. All Romantic Love gets you is a box of Kleenex and a
one-month subscription to RoundandBrown.com. Weezer said it best:

Why bother? it's gonna hurt me
It's gonna kill when you desert me
This happened to me twice before
Won't happen to me anymore

See, with war we need not worry since the objective is always clear:
trust no one, aim for the target, kill hard and fight well. I will
grant this one similarity between Love and War, and that's their
finicky nature: neither allow much room for error, and even the
smallest details and miscommunications can be disastrous in the field.
Take me: I had a date at 8pm on Saturday. I arrived at 9pm to find
she'd already left. Haven't talked to her since.

Of course, she might have moved to Syria.