A Voyage in the East

Am I the only one who has a hard time thinking that war can ever be 'measured'? The act of killing another person has a certain sense of finality for those who are killed and their families. War is inherently not a limited policy. It is an absolute policy that can have dramatic and unintended consequences. A measured response is applying sanctions, or protesting to the United Nations. War can be justified, at times. Personally, I can understand why Israel is doing what it is doing. They are surrounded by enemies. They can hardly make any more and there will not be peace while Hezbollah is an active force. Will this war be successful? I doubt it. There are many adjectives which can be used to describe war. But measured? Perhaps only in the land of Orwell. Describing war as measured is an attempt to manipulate language to reduce or eliminate the negative imagery of war. It is a bit like describing innocent civilians who are blown to smitherens by a bomb as 'collateral damage.' Saying 15 innocent civilians were murdered just wouldn't sound democratic or tasteful.