War is Hell

"The Collossus" Francisco de Goya

Two of my favorite books (Catch-22, Slaughterhouse-five) are in the vein of "war is hell:" the ultimate message/moral of the story is that war is a terrible, terrible thing. I began thinking about this theme when watching Waltz With Bashir, an animated film portraying the memories of the Lebanon War of 1982 from the perspective of filmmaker Ari Folman.

One running theme of the movie was his participation in the Sabra and Shatila massacres. What he said in an interview disturbed me:

"I didn't take responsibility as an Israeli, in the film, for what happened. And frankly, I didn't feel responsible. I was a soldier; we were clueless. We didn't know what was happening until it ended. Then we knew. Of course the government was found guilty. They didn't send the troops in there, but they didn't stop it for three days. They could have stopped it. They could have reduced the casualties. They could have done something. They did not. But I didn't feel that I was a government representative who should take the blame for them. I couldn't care less about Ariel Sharon and his government. I have nothing to do with them, not then and most of all not now." (italics added)

He claims no responsibility for the massacre that happened right next to him. The Israeli army even provided flares to light the killings, which Folman stated he took part in. His army allowed for the slaughter to take place. Shouldn't some responsibility be felt?

Although his denial of responsibility doesn't appeal to me, I still highly recommend the film, as well as the two other books. Each offers a surrealist and unique approach to war and how it affects the common soldier. Do you have any "war is hell" books or movies you enjoy?

As for the question of responsibility and the common soldier: Are ordinary soldiers ever responsible for what their unit does? Should they feel responsible?