I just read “UN: Afghan civilian deaths in war hit record high”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46262008/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/#.Ty75r8jjvQU

I recalled and looked up the term “Body count” in Wikipedia: “Since the goal of the United States in the Vietnam War was not to conquer North Vietnam but rather to ensure the survival of the South Vietnamese government, measuring progress was difficult. All the contested territory was theoretically held already. Instead, the US Army used body counts to show that the US was winning the war. The Army's theory was that eventually, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army would lose after the attrition warfare.” When unleashing monstrosity on ‘primitive barbarians’ for “shock and awe” value it’s forgotten that a “body” is a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a neighbor, a friend. How can one convey the horror and agony involved in killing of non-combatant “human beings”? Can murder be justified? Does “cost of war” or “collateral damage” help numb the senses and hide the fact that those who unleash such murderous acts torment souls?  “Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13) [Matthew 5:21, Matthew 15:19, Matthew 19:19, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, Romans 13:9, James 2:11] And, are we, in our acquiescence complicit in these evil crimes?

Renew a right spirit within me

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12)

The Beatitudes

    He said:    ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

"Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he's the one that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain.

The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot."

Mark Twain 

Cause of Wars

“Peace? Why, my fellow citizens, is there any man here or any woman, let me say is there any 'child here, who does not know that the seed of war in the modern world is industrial and commercial rivalry?”

Speech at the Coliseum in St. Louis, Missouri, on the Peace Treaty and the League of Nations (5 September 1919), as published in "The Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson (Authorized Edition) War and Peace: Presidential Messages, Addresses, and Public Papers (1917-1924) Volume I Page 637. Addresses Delivered by President Wilson on his Western Tour - September 4 To September 25, 1919. From 66th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document No. 120, and in Addresses of President Wilson : Addresses Delivered by President Wilson on his Western Tour - September 4 To September 25, 1919 - On The League of Nations, Treaty of Peace with Germany, Industrial Conditions, High Cost of Living, Race Riots, Etc. (1919)

Governance of affairs

“Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.” 

Woodrow Wilson – The New Freedom: A call for the emancipation of the generous energies of a people (Google eBook)

“Benevolence, Or Justice?”

“We have, not one or two, but many, fields of endeavor into which it is difficult, if not impossible, for the independent man to enter. We have restricted credit, we have restricted opportunity, we have controlled development, and we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world — no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.”

Woodrow Wilson – The New Freedom: A call for the emancipation of the generous energies of a people (Google eBook) - Section IX: “Benevolence, Or Justice?”