GONE TOO SOON, AND TOO FAR FROM HOME

I’ll admit it; I think the war with Iraq is sad. It leaves me despairing that we will ever overcome the impulse to shed blood as a means of “solving problems.” But the death of David Bloom of NBC is doubly sad. Is it because he’s more innocent, not being a soldier? No. Except for the few powerful megalomaniacs who started this thing, we’re all equally innocent and culpable.

I don’t know why I find Bloom’s death more troubling than the other troubling deaths. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching him report, riding around on that big whatever. Maybe it’s just the irony; the guys he was with didn’t let him take a bullet. They didn’t drive over a mine or get doused with sarin gas. He rode all the way up from Kuwait, only to go out under the ultimate friendly fire.

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