We must never sugar-coat the negative effects of war, or downplay the tragedy that lies at the very heart of warfare. “Collateral damage” should not be permitted as a euphemism for civilian casualties. Such casualties are inescapable in a time of war, and will be so as long as war exists, but this does not reduce our responsibility for their deaths. We should mourn these losses as if they are our own, to remind us of why we must do all we can to avoid war. In this way, we have the possibility of holding on to our own humanity, even during the inevitable horrors of war.
It requires a deep, aware, moral courage to both resist evil, and to acknowledge our part in any war's murder and maiming of innocents. It will also require grace, generosity and compassion to forgive our erstwhile enemies—as well as ourselves—and help our one-time adversaries (as well as ourselves) to productively rejoin the human race.
If we are still a nation with any sense of morality, I believe these thoughts should suffice to keep America's worst imperialist pretensions in check.
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