The cycle is fueled by greed: greed magnified to the highest degree possible, a state only humans are capable of.
And war brings out the worst in us.
Imagine two teenagers who are brothers is all but blood. The boys go everywhere and do everything together. Their families live next door to each other and have become very close because of the boys' friendship.
A moment of madness breaks out in their country. It is fueled by grievances and greed and entitlement and unfairness and ego and pride - the usual suspects.
Food gets scarce. While communities turn on each other, the boys make sure their two families share anything they are able to get.
This doesn't please the enforcers of hate. They descend on the homes and drag out the two boys. One is told he has to prove that his family is not betraying the cause. And how is he supposed to do so? By killing his friend. He refuses.
He is told, if he doesn't do it, his sisters, brothers and parents will be killed instead. He is told to decide whether the life of his friend is worth more than the lives of his family.
The idea was to create and stir up fear, suspicion and hate - regardless of the choice the boy made. And it succeeded. Eleven years later my country is still grappling with the aftermath. There were hundreds of other people who were also forced to make that impossible choice.
And each impossible choice made ripples throughout communities creating cycles of revenge, of pain, of cries for justice...
When will it stop? Can it ever stop? Will the cost of war ever be too high a price?