I hope we know what we are doing

There are some pretty ruthless, cruel and murderous people in the world. I don’t know why that is so, but it is. When they have power, the extent of their cruelty multiplies, exponentially. Yesterday, one of those people by all accounts was assassinated by the U.S. with drone missiles on the orders of our President and the military he leads. “Just war” and “just actions of war” have always left me morally conflicted. I don’t know the answers. I want the end of state-sponsored terrorism and all its unspeakable results; I want our troops and citizens and security to be protected with swift and carefully considered proactive and reactive responses. I want harm to innocent people never to be acceptable. And, I hope and pray that these actions by our President and the military are the right responses…even though, even though I feel the nauseous unease I’ve known before at the prospects of escalation and unintended consequences of similar actions. I hope we know what we are doing…and I don’t know what else to say.