> ...it seems we're a little sheltered from our actions. It's much easier to support a war when it seems distant; harder to support it when you see the bodies of innocent civilians killed by your military's actions. Likewise the death penalty (which does manage to take the lives of people who are innocent, as the justice system is not and cannot be perfect). We bear responsibility for the actions of our government, and I feel like we get off a little easy by just allowing the faceless system to take care of our dirty work without having to inspect or really deal with the ramifications of those actions.

I agree with what you're saying here. My original response to this question was basically that I would never want to witness an execution, mostly because I don't think I would like to be around death in that way. Fortunately for me, I live in a country with no death penalty. I started thinking about the issues of war, but I also happen to live in a country with a small military and a tendency to not get involved with ANY war any more than necessary. Still, I am made vaguely uneasy by the thought of civilian casualties in a war, and I have a feeling that my reaction should be a heck of a lot stronger than that.

> Stephen

Don