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Sci-Fi Author Joe Haldeman On the Future of War

merbs writes: Joe Haldeman wrote what is hailed by many as the best military science fiction novel ever written, 1974's The Forever War. In this interview, Haldeman discusses what's changed since he wrote his book, what hasn't, and what the future of war will really look like. Vice reports: "...The Vietnam War may have ended decades ago, but our military adventuring hasn’t. Our moment can somehow feel simultaneously like a crossroads for the technological future of combat and another arbitrary point on its dully predictable, incessantly conflict-laden trajectory. We’re relying more on drones and proxy soldiers to fight our far-off wars, in theaters far from the conscionable grasp of homelands, we’re automating robotics for the battlefield, and we’re moving our tactics online—so it seems like an opportune time to check in with science fiction’s most prescient author of military fiction."

3 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I've always said by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Informative

    the unassailble fact that humanity is in everlasting war

    sophomoric drivel

    Really Okay first thing you have to do is prove that war is a rare punctuation of the normal condition, peace and harmony. Then prove we don't like it.

    war is not an ongoing process

    SRSLY? Here's a listing of US wars just the 20th century: Some overlap due to turn of century..

    Yaqui war - 1896-1918

    Phillipine-American War - 1899-1902

    Moro rebellian - 1899 - 1913

    Boxer Rebellion - 1899 - 1901

    Crazy Snake - 1909

    Mexican border war - 1910 - 1919

    Bannana War Negro Rebellion - 1912

    Nicaraaugua occupation - 1912 - 1933

    Bluff War - 1914 - 1915

    Bananna War Haiti occupation - 1915 - 1934

    Bananna War Sugar - 1916 - 1918

    Dominican Republic occupation - 1916 - 1924

    World War 1 - 1917 1918

    Russian Civil War - 1918 - 1920

    Samsum Turkey - 1922

    Posey War - 1923

    World War 2 - 1941 - 1945

    Korean War - 1950 - 1953

    Lebanon - 1958

    Bay of Pigs 1961

    Dominican Civil War 1965 - 1966

    Vietnam War 1965 - 1973

    Zaire - 1978

    Lebanese Civil War - 1982 - 1984

    Grenada - 1983

    Tanker war when Iraq was a ally - 1987 - 1988

    Panama - 1989 - 1990

    Gulf War 1 - 1990 - 1991

    Iraq No Fly - 1991 - 2003

    Somalia 1992 - 1995

    Haiti - 1994 - 1995

    Bosnia - 1994 - 1995

    Kosovo - 1998 - 1999

    And to bring it to the present

    Afghanistan- 2001 to present

    Iraq as enemy 2001 - 2011

    Pakistan Drone strikes 2004 - present

    Ocean Shield 2009 - present Libya - 2011

    ISIL - 2014 - present

    So "sophomoric" or not, I'm right.

    And your thesis that it's all leaders, sorry, it isn't - we elect them, and our young folks are quite willing to go to fight and die and kill- except for some notables who ironically in their older years, want to use war as an economic stimulus.

    This isn't an anti-war screed, I'm nowhere near a pacifist. All I'm doing is stating a pretty simple truth. We love this shit. Otherwise we wouldn't do it so often or so well, or with so little opposition from the populous.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  2. Re:I've always said by sexconker · · Score: 4, Informative

    "nobody wins wars"

    LOL HOLY SHIT
    You really believe that, don't you?

    Entire countries exist today because they won wars.

  3. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Informative

    Comment removed based on user account deletion