I watched the last 1/3rd of “Saving Private Ryan” a couple days ago. There can be honor in the endeavor of defending freedom and providing for the safety of others in the face of tyrants and abusers of humankind. It is never preferable, but at times most certainly necessary. The men and women who fight the wars do so at the command of superiors. Most are honorable. Some are not. Whether those who are not honorable continue or not depends on the honorableness of their superiors. Tyrants and abusers of humankind, whether dictators or sergeants, breed new tyrants and abusers from their fellows.
A description of a wise leader may be whether that person is able to discern properly when to send the men and women of the military into combat. Warfare in and of itself comes to no good end. Warfare born of ego or political expediency is an evil that accomplishes nothing good. Yet, there are times when war must be fought. There are times when men and women give their lives in order to save humanity from that which could well destroy civilization. The responsibility of whether a war, a battle, and excursion is of the honorable kind or not falls upon the shoulders of those who have the power to declare such things and send men and women to do their bidding.
We should pray for our leaders that they will be wise and judicious in their use of the military – of placing lives in danger and engaging in activities that will kill people, good and bad. We most definitely need to pray for the men and women who engage in the battle, that as they come to the precarious point where they find that they must take another life, pray that each of their souls may not be so damaged that they will never again be the person God created in innocence.