Thanks Stephen.

I agree it's desperately sad to think we've learned so little in the last 90 years and I'd love to think you're right that we might learn from our mistakes, but somehow I have my doubts.............

One of the major problems is that the politicians don't actually have to go war themselves. - If they did, they might think a bit more deeply before sending the troops in to sacrifice themselves on the alter of political arrogance and stupidity.

Two Sides of War (All Wars)

"All wars are planned by older men
In council rooms apart,
Who call for greater armament
And map the battle chart.

But out along the shattered field
Where golden dreams turn gray,
How very young the faces were
Where all the dead men lay.

Portly and solemn in their pride,
The elders cast their vote
For this or that, or something else,
That sounds the martial note.

But where their sightless eyes stare out
Beyond life's vanished toys,
I've noticed nearly all the dead
Were hardly more than boys."

~Grantland Rice