The final line from an episode of "Black Sheep Squadron" has the TV show’s star saying, “Have we all gone crazy?” It is spoken after a battle in which the famous World War II fighter pilot is lamenting the loss of American lives, and by implication, even the lives of enemy Japanese. When contemplating the massive loss of life in that war, and the terrible toll from other wars, it should give anyone pause before advocating armed conflict. The costs will be real, and they will be awful. Vietnam was the first war in which television viewers witnessed almost first hand (or so it felt) civilian casualties, the so-called collateral damage. Especially poignant was the widely disseminated, front page image of a Vietnamese child running terrified and naked from a napalm strike. By contrast, in more recent years, war has seemed to become almost a spectator event, with bombs and missiles raining down from far away. Those who launch such weapons are...(Read Full Article)