PRESIDENT BUSH has seen fit to lead us into a war with little rhyme or reason and apparently without end.
At a recent television appearance, he talked of war and made a comment about how "romantic" it would be to join the fight. I am of the opinion that he had his chance many years ago.
General William Tecumseh Sherman has been quoted many times as to the fact that war is hell. Unfortunately, this quote is often used with a shrug, as if it should just be accepted as part of the consequences of armed conflict, and should never be considered a factor when war is being planned before all other avenues have been examined.
Sherman was addressing the graduate class at Michigan Military Academy on June 19, 1879. His speech included these words:
"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, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell."
Nowhere in the history I have examined has war been described as romantic.
GEORGE L. DeGRASSE
Carver
