War is not murder. Look at any legal definition. The reverse "is killing murder?" is a subject that philosophies, creeds, ethicists, and religions have and will continue to debate, for as long as the human race endures.

Does war work? Unfortunately it does. Either one side defeats the other, or both sides eventually become weary of destruction--weary enough to consider nonviolent alternatives.

War is endemic to the human social process. This isn't debatable, since war has always been with us.

By this, I am not saying that *I* condone war. I am more interested in understanding the specific cause of each specific conflict between peoples, in order that both sides can be assisted tocome to a peaceful conclusion. I leave the larger philosophical questions to others.

In the context of the Palestine-Israeli conflict: the combattants have yet to reach the point where the heat of emotions gives way to a weary halt, and then a search for accommodation.

What complicates the solution is that potential intervenors--the USA, EU, Muslim nations, all have their own agendas. Beyond this is the question as to the aims and effects on the world, of the religion of Islam.

So far, no one has been able to offer the magic solution to this conflict. So, we wait....