Robert McNamara, the former Secretary of Defense under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, had this to say about war when looking at the decisions he had made over his career. Very poignant and very apt to ponder as we roll into election season:

“What makes us omniscient? Have we a record of omniscience? We are the strongest nation in the world today. I do not believe we should ever apply that economic, political, or military power unilaterally. If we had followed that rule in Vietnam, we wouldn’t have been there! None of our allies supported us; not Japan, not Germany, not Britain or France. If we can’t persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we’d better reexamine our reasoning.”

And finally, simple and true -

“I think the human race needs to think about killing. How much evil must we do in order to do good?”