Ares and Aphrodite make love in Afghanistan

If you have ever had a hard time wrapping your mind around the hot, passionate love affair that Love and War engage in, you need to watch this video and all is made clear.

Lady Gaga’s Telephone – Afghanistan Remix

Performed by soldiers from the 82nd Airborne unit stationed in Afghanistan, this video is a remake of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”. The soldiers tease one another in sexually suggestive ways and seem comfortable doing so. Part way through the video more soldiers join in and their homemade costumes are what the Army would term ‘out of regulation’.

They exude passion, playfulness, and frustration. Exactly what you would expect from healthy adults who have lonely hours to fill while contained in a war zone. These young men have dangerous jobs in a hostile part of the world. Their zest for life is heightened by their realization that their lives could end at any moment. Their sexuality flames all the higher under the pressure of too few outlets for expression.

In these men, Aphrodite and Ares are making love and we get to watch it.

I’ll over-simplify here, so please forgive me. Ares approaches battle with frenzy and total abandonment to blood-lust. He fully gives Himself over to the moment, allowing emotion to displace reason, gaining victory through loss of self. In the grip of Ares, humans can be very brave and very terrible.

Aphrodite incites attraction, seduction and desire in mortals and Gods alike. She is sexuality and the need to procreate, the very thing necessary for the continuity of a community or civilization. She is a force that cannot be locked away or contained.

When sexuality is repressed it is like a pot of water with a tight fitting lid; the slightest rise in temperature causes the water to boil and there is no place hotter than a battle field. Surviving another dangerous mission, a call from a loved one, watching a steamy scene in a movie – all these things add fuel to the fire. Ares grasps Aphrodite tighter and she moans, causing His breath to catch.

During war, the military tries to put a lid on sexual expression and channel that energy into violent aggression. They want Ares present when needed and they do get Him. But with Ares, always comes His lover, Aphrodite.

When that happens, sometimes you get soldiers dancing to Lady Gaga on YouTube.