What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy? (Mahatma Ghandi)
In the matter of war, old men puff out their chests and dig in their heels and piously invoke the call to faith...to patriotism...to the will of whatever they perceive God to be. Old men rage and bluster and pompously proclaim the righteousness of the cause stridently and often and with no fear that they could possibly be wrong.
In the matter of war, old men draw lines in the sand and swear to defend them to the very last drop of precious blood. In the matter of war, old men puff out their chests and set their jaws and murmur feckless prayers to the glory of God...and young men...in the matter of war, young men die.
As of yesterday more than 1,000 young American men and women have died in the conflict in Iraq...most of them having been killed after President Bush infamously declared a end to major operations in the area more than a year ago.
The President says that he regrets the loss of life and that we must "honor" the dead by completing the "mission" that he started. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says that the lives of the young soldiers are the price we have to pay if we want to win the "war on terror". Senator Kerry says that the casualties prove that the war, which he voted to support, was wrong from the beginning.
Old men pontificating. Young men and young women dying. In the matter of war, it has ever been thus.
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