"An eye for an eye makes the world go blind..."

...As said by the great Mahatma Gandhi.

It was asked why in the recently concluded Miss Universe pageant, there were no 'world-peace' signs, dumb-blonde answers during the Q&A segment anymore. The usual stuff that derided the very essence of this eye-candy competition.

Perhaps, the girls got smarter?

Or is it that, after years of fighting and war, we have come to realised.. peace is merely an utopian ideal. War had ravaged cities, has destroyed lives, and will continue to engulf streets of civilian residences, and enshroud the innocent and soldiers alike in a air of fear & apprehension.

After the Viet Cong war and Iraq's incursion into Kuwait way back in the 90s, it was some time before Sept 11 made its impact felt fully. The world was jolted back to reality, the cold hard fact that violence solves problems the hard way out, but escapes the red tape bound by superficial diplomacy.

Far away we are in Asia, reading these articles with a tired and numb mind.

But a short distance across the Equator, explosions lit the night sky, and air raids zoomed in on establishments beside villages.

Obliterate the entire settlement for every missile fired out from within? Or deliberately target the humanitarian post to show no place is safe for the guerillas?

Casualities run high, yet the bombings never ceases.

Guerilla warfare is scary, and the sirens that follow the airborne strikes heralds the familiar yet dreaded phase of trepidation and paralysis by fear.

Of course, the Jews have long wanted to eradicate these radicals all along, needing a reason to validate their invasion that came all too easily. Years of suicide bombings have already battle-hardened the seasoned Israelis, but one may ask, are they bringing this too far?

Violence begets violence, but from the look of things, no amount of 48-hour temporary ceasefires or peace talks can stop this affair from escalating into a full-fledged military attack.

Or reducing collateral damage for that matter.


What the media doesn't show, the atrocities of war