Actually, my dad hated alcohol, and years spent watching AA has taught me that this holds true for most alcoholics. It isn't a matter of what they would rather be doing, that is one of the basics of addiction, because most would rather be able to carry on normally, to be able to walk away from that bottle, but they cannot, not that they don't want to.
I think they know on a deep level that the alcohol is destroying them, and the life around them, but they simply have no power over the decision.