Tom,

>It is not uncommon for a country at war to kill its own military members by mistake. During the Second World War my father was a United States Marine. One battle he was in was the battle of Okinawa. United States military forces killed over 4000 of our own men in that battle from April 1 to June 16, 1945.

>Even during basic military training men are sometimes killed when live ammunition is used. The use of any weapons used in the field may have lethal consequences.

So let's make our best efforts to avoid wars and kill our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. We should not accept obscure excuses for unexcusables wars, IMHO.

Last night, watching BBC news, two images shocked and amused me. A black man with a photograph in his hand shouting: "George Bush, you took my only son! George Bush, you took my only son!".

The other was a woman, mother of one of american POWs: "We knew the war would be tough... but not that tough!".

Fernando