The other day, I saw some clown in a now-lost article claiming that only psychotic people go to the Combat Footage sub-Reddits and places like that. While I am sure that there are some of those types there certainly, many of us go there to see what the present and future of war will be like. Because there will be war or at least the threat of it — that seems a human constant. If it’s not with Russia or China (for the US), it will be with some other entity.

Is it so hard to imagine that a lot of people view combat footage to try to forestall those future wars and instead of being psychopaths, are working to bring about peace with the knowledge of what might occur? For many, it appears even thinking about war — or having anyone else ponder it — is a norms violation. But not considering what might happen is also very dangerous as then you cannot prevent it nor prepare for it.

In the movie version of LOTR, Éowyn says, “Those without swords can still die upon them.” There, she was arguing for why women should be allowed to go into battle. In our world, her observation applies: those who don’t care about drones and AI-based drone swarms can still be killed by them. In this world we don’t need to teach everyone to fight, but attempting to understand how war works now and how it will play out in the not-too-distant future will be key to perhaps preventing that war from occurring at all or making it a much shorter affair.

Brothers, sisters, sometimes we must study war to ensure the peace.