BACK ON THE HOME FRONT

Daily now we are hearing interviews with families of soldiers killed in action in Iraq. Newspapers are publishing their obituaries in the main section as well. Though heart-wrenching, I think it is important to keep these reports coming. No matter how just, the horrors of war must not be trivialized and forgotten. I only hope our politicians are taking heed of these reports and are as affected by them as I am.

"War is a continuation of Diplomacy by other means." I did not really understand that sentiment until I started tracking geo-political relations in the middle 1990's. War is also not supposed to be an abandonment of rules and guidelines. Wars should be waged according to rules of engagement. Wars are conflicts between governments, not people. When enemy governments like in Vietnam or now Iraq use their own people as combatants, hide military equipment amongst civilians, and commit atrocities to POWS they are showing a complete disregard not only for life but for behaving in a reasonable manner.