I have tried to make this point clear today because you have to work in the front lines, bearing the brunt of all difficulties.

My comments:

Brunt is the principal force of an attack or the greater part of a burden. The point being made “clear today” is that “because you have to work in the front lines” (handling day-to-day tasks), you get to face all the difficulties – or “bear the brunt” (most difficult part) of them.

The front lines, of course, are where real battles are fought, where blood is actually shed. In a way, that’s where the brunt of the burden of fighting a war really lies.

Come to think of it, if all warmongers are forced to send their own sons and daughters to the front lines, and better yet, if all politicians who wage wars are themselves forced to fight in the front lines, there’d literally be no wars.

Or at any rate much fewer of them.

Just a thought.

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.