It has a quality that must be taught. In turn, it provided Dylan with an introduction to a massive audience so that when he surfaced, people were ready for him. Well, I don't think we had the first. I think they recorded 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone' before we recorded our first album. And, despite how righteous a population thinks it is in any particular time, and although war may be a necessary action, it is never a good thing.
War is a human failing.
Folk music deals with classical things and those don't change. He could have used the word 'rocket' or 'atom bomb' or he could have used any number of contemporary war images. Folk music, depending on how far back you want to go, is a cultural articulation of a particular period in time. Cultures that were not particularly literate very often have some of the most incredibly strong folk music because that is the cultural articulation. Folk music is really that music which comes from the people, is sustained by the people, as opposed to some art form that is part of a fad.