MMario, with all due respect, by what logic do you propose that the significantly higher national suicide/homicide/violent crime rates in the US, or the huge difference between the size of the US military budget compared with that of the rest of the world, have nothing to do with whether or not there is a cultural predisposition towards war and violence within the US? It's glaringly obvious to see that these figures have EVERYTHING to do with the topic at hand, is it not?!?

We're talking about war and violence, and the incidence of it both within the US and as perpetrated on other countries by the US, and WHY the incidences of both are higher there than in the rest of the world (if they are, and that's what the figures indicate very clearly!) and then (hopefully) what the heck any of us can do about it!!

And what does any of that have to do with me personally, pray tell?

daylia

PS Suicide, regardless of the motives behind it, IS a violent act -- the most violent that can be perpetrated against the self.