The architects never see combat.

I'd not want to be drafted and have to go off to war. Fortunately, when I was in the army, I never had to go into combat. I had a cushy job. Mostly as a sports writer for a division weekly newspaper in Germany. But these days, soldiers aren't that lucky. They go off to combat in a senseless war in Iraq. Some of 'em for three or four tours. That's inhumane. Sure, I know they are volunteers. But still, that's too much to ask of anyone. Little wonder that many of 'em are having mental health problems. Estimates range up to 300,000 soldiers in need of counseling and other therapies. Last week, a 44-year-old sergeant in a mental health clinic in Baghdad went berserk and shot and killed five American soldiers. War is gruesome. Stressful. And when it's an unnecessary war, that strains the mind even more. And what strains my brain is that the architects of these gawdawful wars never see combat. They're safe in their cozy beds on the homefront. --Jim Broede