War is brutal – let's wage it that way

Larry Elder almost got it right – almost ["The Iraq war's other front – my doctor's office"]. His historical review of U.S. war deaths was right on and in excellent contrast to the low percentage of deaths in Iraq. His account of what happened to the WMDs was logical and substantiated. He's got me so far … but wait.

World War II – four years, 400,000 casualties. Civil War – four years, 650,000 dead. Iraq war – four years, 3,500 killed. What's the difference here? It is obvious: the way the war is executed. During the Civil War and World War II, the objective clearly became to WIN AT ALL COSTS.

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What we have in Iraq, by contrast, is policing, and it's done in such a PC way as to not offend the people we should be killing. Wow, novel, kill the enemy.

Larry thinks that the war will be lost in a doctor's office. No, the war is lost when the battle becomes an exercise in how not to kill.

The notion that a smart bomb will reduce collateral damage is a joke. The idea that bombing a village, or killing a woman, or any of the other horrific acts of war should be or can be controlled is ludicrous.

Gens. Grant and Sherman knew in 1864 that the way to succeed was to destroy. Kill the enemy, burn the fields, end the war.

President Truman understood the consequences of the bomb – massive death and the end of the war.

Americans, including the Sage, need to wake up and realize that "war is hell." To believe that it can be any other way is a lie.

Ultimately, Americans need to ask ourselves, do we want to be the nation in charge, or do we want Iraq, Iran, Russia or China to pull the strings?

World history will prove that intimidation (even if it's of the soft talk with a big stick type) is the ONLY way. Once war is commenced, out go the options of financial and political intimidation. All that is left is brutality.

Nick C.

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