any other passionately anti-war military buffs out there?

[expatriot]

I am passionately anti-war... but I am a military buff... I love war games, war strategy games... I spend hours on sites like www.globalsecurity.org and www.fas.org looking up the organization of units and such.... so what gives?

am i really altruisticly anti-war or do I havec some variant of penis-envy?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. No, you are not alone

Many military experts, in and out of the military are opposed to war, except as a final means.
Many of us who have seen modern war up close and personal are quite against anyone else having to go through it again.

[Fenris]

2. I am the same way

I love war and strategy games, I enjoy military history, I love watching war movies, but I am committed to pacifism. Perhaps I am just being delusional, and maybe deep down I am a flag-fucking facist freak who only poses as a pacifist. Either way, it's an odd situation.

[CarlBallard]

3. Last Weekend

The Navy was in town for an event we call Seafair. Anyway I was in awe of the Blue Angles practicing (and disapointed I couldn't catch them performing) and saluted some of the officers wandering about. I'm completely anti war, but I throughly enjoyed their presence. I think it's much better that the're over here than in Iraq.

[KG]

4. me

civil war and WW2 buff - enjoy reading Bruce Catton and WW2 combat flight sims.

but deeply anti-war - i can't support mass murder no matter who commits it. and war is mass murder.

[JCMach1]

5. Yep... Have to admit it

I love strategy and war games...

I even studied in a Right-Wing National Security program in college just to learn more...

[expatriot]

6. wow... thanks... I think I uncovered a strong subculture here in DU!

thanks... one thing i wish du had that fr has are ping lists... so you can form subgroups within forums... that'd be cool.

[Redleg]

7. Anti-Iraq-War former military man and current military buff here.

There's nothing wrong with you. That's not my clinical opinion because I don't have one.

[JohnKleeb]

8. thats me

Actually I am not like that, but I play and love war games and war movies, in the war games I try to save my comrades if I can. I love WWII games the most, and as odd as this sounds I wish I could have been there.

[ForrestGump]

9. Another one here

I see it less being a hawk than being a well-armed dove.

[DS1]

10. There are quite a few here

I'm always interested in seeing the development of the next gen Amphibious Assault Vehicles that the Marines use. Having driven a POS for years, it's somewhat personal to me how things are progressing with the "Advanced" Amphibious Assault Vehicle. Also, many technologies developed by the military trickle down to the civilian sector sooner or later, so it's interesting to see the progress regarding that, also.

Even over-budget wastes of money, like the F-22 Raptor are interesting, because that for example, is so bad-ass, the pilots are learning entirely new techniques of engaging enemy fighters. No other plane in the world can launch an air-to-air missile during a Mach2 inverted dive that drops the place 20,000 feet.

It's also interesting to see what garbage gets scrapped, like that mobile artillery system that even Rumsfeld thought was useless, much to J.C. Watt's chagrin.

[Tom Kitten]

11. I guess I am...

I hate war, it should be avoided unless it is absolutely the last resort, and I consider myself rather liberal. But I like reading about WW2, especially the naval campaigns. When I was a boy, other kids built model cars, I built navy ships, I even had models of the Monitor and Merrimack and the Maine! I also like the aircraft, from the Spitfire up to present (I was in the Air Force for 4 years). Also have a few movies on video (Sands of Iwo Jima, Private Ryan, Glory, a Polish film called Kanal about the Warsaw uprising that is bleak and intense as hell, among a few) But war absolutely sucks. Got one friend, that's the undertaker. Scratch that, got a few friends, in the White House.

[leftofthedial]

12. fascinated

and repelled.

[leftist_rebel1569]

13. That's me...but you should see one of my friends

his knowledge of military aircraft is absolutely amazing, especially with helicopers. He also knows a lot about guns and tanks and other military stuff. We both like war games, too. And, we're both stauchly liberal and anti-war...

and, for us liberals, it CAN'T be penis envy...

[Aristus]

14. Right here.

It's strange, isn't it? I thought I was the only one.

[GOPisEvil]

15. I got into military history living near Pearl Harbor.

I think you can appreciate the history as well as commit yourself to peace if you visit the Arizona Memorial, Arlington National Cemetary and The Vietnam Memorial. Those three places are the most humbling places I've ever been.

[Loonman]

16. Yep

Military and military history.

Specifically WWII and Vietnam. Also interested in ancient and medieval warfare, both tactics, equipment nad strategy.

[BiggJawn]

17. Me Too...

Serious student of what is usually referred to as "The U-Boat War", equipment, tactics, personel, etc. I've studied our "Bubbleheads" , too, so I'm impartial. (We had the best organization, Doenitz had the best hardware, both our torpedos sucked)

but I hate War. War is the Ultimate Failure of being Human.

Funny, isn't it? Love the hardware, hate what it's designed to do...