The time-honored concepts of soldiers fighting with a sense of purpose on the battlefield and civilians supporting them on the home front are getting vigorous workouts as the Iraq war slouches toward its fifth year with no end in sight. But how do these concepts play out — and are they even valid — if the war in question is morally suspect?
There is a chillingly prescient passage in “Going After Cacciato,â€? the masterful Vietnam War novel by Tim O’Brien, that addresses this conundrum, which is central to both the Vietnam and Iraq wars.
Is it possible to do the right thing when the war is the wrong thing?
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