Word of the day: "narthex"

To show that I am not a brutal, heartless warmonger looking upon the impending war with Iraq as a source of entertainment, betting fun, weapons technology research, excuse to slack in front of CNN, and all out pleasing coversational topic, (in fact, I'm a very nice warmonger), here's an excerpt from a particularly moving Newsweek article.

"Last week President Bush�s speech at the United Nations almost guaranteed that my country, America, will soon be engaged in a battle with Iraq, my ancestral homeland. Military analysts on the evening news are already speaking of bombarding Baghdad first for a �strategic edge.� Never mind that the densely populated city is home to 5 million people (about 100 of whom I am related to), or that my cousin Zaniab or her baby or my uncle Hassan are far more likely to be taken out than Saddam himself. To be an Iraqi-American right now means to be on edge, to cry a lot, not to sleep at night."

I wish I had it in me to summon up more than this vestigial, bare flicker of compassion.