That reminds me of another quote: "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it." - Robert E. Lee, commenting on the Battle of Fredericksburg

I feel like that is overly simplistic. The world is not black and white.

True, of course it's a simplification. What I meant to say is that the militaristic argument will always be that you'd rather avoid war, but you're forced into it. This doesn't mean that it's never true- but rather that you should be highly suspicious of the claim.

Yes, this is definitely true. The sincere form of this argument is very easily co-opted by the military industrial complex.