I am no expert on world affairs. Let’s get that straight right away.

I don’t claim to have a full grasp of international politics. I don’t comprehend all the whys and wherefores.

So, I’ll never understand why some people decide they have to attack some other people.

Or why so many other people – not hungry for power, not bent on revenge, not on any “holy” crusade – end up getting killed.

So many men, women and children, who never desired anything but to go about their lives in peace, all falling under the utterly repugnant categorization of “collateral damage.”

I know war has been a part of human existence since time immemorial, and I know everybody who ever fought in one fully believed he was on the side of right.

But, when innocent lives are suddenly and violently snuffed out, and summarily dismissed as “collateral damage”, there is no right. There are no winners. There are no victors.

There is only the horrifying atrocity, the obscenity, of scattered bodies and survivors overwhelmed with sorrow and grief.

We all know the solution: negotiate a peaceful settlement, as soon as possible.

Does anybody see that happening?