The human costs, so far, for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are beyond tragic. The financial costs are numbing and  mind-boggling. In spite of the lessons learned or unlearned from previous wars, political hawks and media blabbermouths who have never been to war are so damn eager to commit the young men and women of this nation to war.

About World War I, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George (another politician – not a war veteran)  is reputed to have said, “This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.”

Ask any combat veteran about the costs of war.  Ask those who suffer physiological, psychological or emotional scars about the costs of war.  Ask surviving family members.

Ask William Tecumseh Sherman who said, “I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.”

Here’s what we think: When the next justifiable war comes, and it will, the draft must be reinstated immediately and all congressmen, and congresswomen, who vote for war must be drafted first. The second draft call must include the Seans, the Rushes and Glens of the world. No excuses!

Before that next war comes, we want those folks who send America’s men and women into harm’s way to talk with surviving families whose sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, husbands or wives are not coming home. We want those folks to look into the eyes of wounded soldiers in veterans’ hospitals and rehab hospitals. We want those folks to read Clausewitz and Sun Tzu.

And when those things happen, old as we are, we former veterans will lace up our boots and strap on our rucks again, too.

– Brian L. Long, editor, Vietnam veteran and retired sergeant major

[EDITOR’S NOTES: (1) We wrote this opinion a few weeks ago; just three days ago, a firefighter friend and veteran from western PA sent this THE FINAL INSPECTION to us in an email.  We think it is appropriate to include with this editorial. (2) “In reviewing the news stories of these past few weeks, it becomes clear that the Western world’s addiction to war truly knows no bounds. Libya is reeling from NATO’s ‘humanitarian’ intervention which has crippled a once prosperous nation, destroyed its infrastructure, robbed it of its ample resources and devastated its population. But for Western military powers, this is not enough. Iran, Syria, Yemen … The hit list is growing exponentially, and so are the stakes. There is no end to greed until we stand up and say ‘enough is enough.’ In fact, it’s too much. The drums of war are beating and it’s up to us to choose whether we march along, or we rewrite the score.” (SOURCE: http://www.globalreasearch.ca)]