Rubble

I know it’s too early. I know it is.

But I see a lot of pictures of Baghdad up on the screen. And I see a city. An intact city. A living, breathing, viable city. Some individual buildings and palaces are destroyed, sure, but the city is intact. I’ve seen earthquakes and hurricanes — heck, blizzards — do more damage.

And, by way of contrast, consider Berlin, 1945. And again.

War is hell. War is horrible. War is death, and destruction, and dead, burnt, crushed, torn, rotting bodies. Whatever the reason, no matter how good and noble and worthy, war is awful.

But I’m not seeing pictures like this. Or this. And I don’t think it’s because of military censorship. And I think that’s going to make a big difference, once the dust settles.