Memorial Day

War is ugly, chaotic, and above all, violent. The best and perhaps most concise definition of war is "organized violence." Hence war should never be romanticized. I am grateful to those gave all for our country. Contra John Lennon, if there is nothing worth dying for, then there is nothing worth living for either.

As our current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, I think it is important that we recognize there are a lot of wounded veterans who came home and who need our help, too. As this is a presidential election year, it is important to me that moving ahead we are far more reticent about using force to achieve desired ends, which means taking a moral approach to ends we seek and always grasping that even very moral ends don't justify means. As a war veteran myself, I feel I can express my opinion with some credibility.

To those who gave all, thank you. Your sacrifice bears witness to the great importance of transcendence to our being human, the loss of which damages and diminishes our humanity.