Poems and Profound Thoughts: I thought these poems and quotes both beautiful and profound as I think about the 96,000 secret Defense Department and Pentagon files which have been exposed and our delusional propensity to think war in this nuclear age is winnable.

The first is taken from the July 26, 2010 NYT: Rupert Brook -- "The Soldier " (about an English soldier days before he died on his way to Gallipoli during World War I in 1915) -- substitute Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan or the next sad endless weary war in a long line of wars yet to come:

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

and yet another on a Turkish Memorial. It is the Memorial of Anzac (Australian) Cove, commemorating the loss of thousands of Turkish and Anzac (Australian) soldiers in Gallipoli.

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours… You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
— Atatürk 1934

From Wikipedia about the Gallipoli campaign:

"The conditions at Galipoli, on both sides, were notorious. In the summer, the heat was atrocious, and in conjunction with bad sanitation, led to so many flies that eating became extremely difficult. Corpses, left in the open, became bloated and stank. The precarious Allied bases were poorly situated and caused supply and shelter problems. A dysentery epidemic spread through the Allied trenches in both Anzac and Helles. Autumn and winter brought relief from the heat, but also led to gales, flooding and frostbite."

This is the reality of war. This is why war should never be but, alas, seemingly always will be as it satisfies man's endless unquenchable thirst for human blood and the power that blood bestows. Jesus said to his disciples, "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come" Luke 17:1.

Woe unto to us as we are in a time where war ultimately can be neither won nor lost because in the end there will be no human beings left to fight it. Imagine man, the only animal we know of who does little to preserve the earth YET is the ONLY animal who can understand the earth and appreciate its majesty. Why, why, why would anyone not want their children to see its awesome splendor? I shake my head in disbelief that war is even thought an option. How many tours of duty in a dusty hellish place can a man take?

This country once so heroic and strong is diminished by its penchant for eternal war held hostage to the filth of oil and Wall Street avarice which cares NOTHING except stuffing their pockets with gold crafted by the sweat of others. "Eli, Eli (pronounced A Lee) (my God, my God), words spoken by King David in Book of Psalms 22:2-3- : "...My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me, and art far from my help at the words of my cry? O my God, I call by day, but Thou answerest not; and at night, and there is no end for me..."