Casualties Of War

As opposed as I am to the war in Iraq, and warfare in general, there's one aspect that I'm embarrased to admit I've never really considered before: the effect wars have on the "natural" world. Everyone at least pauses for a few moments when they hear that more American soldiers have been killed, but no one even bothers to consider the toll that the war is taking on the animals and environment in the "war zone."

I'm not even sure how I ended up at this web site, but I read something that really made me think. Here is a quote from the site:

200 million have died in the last century's wars, but we should not stop with the human casualties. The noted Indian writer Arundhati Roy, reminds us, "Never counted in the costs of war are the dead birds, the charred animals, the murdered fish, incinerated insects, poisoned water sources, destroyed vegetation. Rarely mentioned is the arrogance of the human race toward other living things. This arrogance will probably be the ultimate undoing of the human species."

That paragraph really made me think (and inspired me to write this blog entry). If this is the first time you've ever considered this, how does that make you feel? It makes me feel small-minded, and... arrogant.