Summary

Avi's platoon seems to share a cynicism about the military and they have an unspoken agreement that "they were in this for each other, not for the army" (16). Though they felt rebellious, there was also the reality that, on some level, they had all chosen to be there, for "if you didn't want to be a combat soldier you could get out of it" (16). Therefore, "however they regarded this callous organization, the army, they understand that the threats facing their country were real and that this demand of them was legitimate" (16). Throughout this period in the mid-1990s, many believed that peace in the Middle East was on the near horizon, however, "it turned out that what was happening in Lebanon was both the new Middle East and the new real war" (17). At the end of October 1994, Avi's platoon is sent...