“War is chaos,” I add.

“Yet someone’s gotta fight them,” he replies simply.

“But why? Why can’t we all just live in peace?”

“War is good sometimes. We can all live in peace, but that might mean our country is turning a blind eye to atrocities. Would you rather have lived in alleged peace while the Nazis killed millions of Jews? Would you rather have fought no war but had African Americans still enslaved? War is necessary.”

“But the youth! War kills future generations. Sometimes, once war is opened, it’s like a terrible can of never-ending filth. It takes a toll.”

“War is just a means to an end, Lauren. It’s a tool,” he interrupts.

“So, are you the tool they use? The government has you risking your life to achieve its politics abroad.”

“Yes. That’s right. But you can’t imagine the shit people eat in other countries. You talk like you think everyone is living in la-la land, and we, the United States of America, waltz in where we’re not invited. You don’t realize that there are children scavenging for food and eating from the trash due to oppressive governments that don’t give a shit about the people so long as their own pockets are lined. Fathers selling their daughters into marriage. Brothers who, after hearing of their sister’s rape, will pour acid on her face. Do you realize that, in Afghanistan, ninety percent of women don’t leave their homes? When they wear a burka, they essentially turn themselves invisible. These women are controlled by men. Sure, the men are happy—because they’re in complete control. And lots of women don’t know better. How can they? They can’t imagine a better life when even the television stations are controlled by their government.”

“You have to respect the choices of these women.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Women in those countries don’t get a choice. You’re viewing their life through an American lens, which is a mistake.”

“Getting involved hasn’t always worked. I mean, look at what Jimmy Carter did in Iran. The fall of Shah Pahlavi put the entire Middle East in flux. The shah’s government was secular and pro-Western, not Communist.”

“Disaster of an administration. Absolute disaster.” He shakes his head in disgust.

“So, are we supposed to just go with the whims of these politicians? What if they’re wrong?”

“Yes, that’s a risk. But what about all the amazing things that happened for women here in the USA due to the fact that the men were off fighting? Women finally left home and entered the workforce.”

“Yeah, but that’s over now.”

“Is it?”

“We don’t need our men off at war to finally be able to be independent.”

“Yes, but we did initially. So, war has had benefits both here and abroad. I mean, war has helped pull us out of recessions.”

“I’m not going to agree with you. I mean, I’ll always support our troops. God bless you guys for going out and fighting for our freedom. But that doesn’t mean I agree with sending you all off in the first place. Especially under a regime that Americans do not understand. You can’t walk into the Middle East and say, Voilà, welcome to democracy! The people are so far from that, they wouldn’t know what to do to handle the freedom.”