War's Hidden Cost, By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr.

As we have learned with todays current war and this war, that casualities amoung civilians are inevitabile. It even states "In a survey of Afghanistan two years ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross found that more than half those interviewed had a family member killed. One in three was wounded, two in five were tortured, one in five imprisoned. One in four were soldiers. One in four had heard of the Geneva Conventions.", We must out wiegh the risks to see if the positive out wiegh the negitave in this case it seems it really didnt work out. To the people of america they are suprised because we think our military weapons are extremly accurate. Viewers also cant handle the coverage of the casualities, as we have learned images are extremly powerful. In this case they would come as a shock to the american public. I dont understand how Rumpsfield can make that statement that "We know for a fact that these were legitimate military targets in that area that were struck," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said. "We know that there was terrific traditional, consistent planning to ensure that only these targets were struck. We know there were no off-target hits, so there were no collateral damage worries in this series of strikes." How can anyone be so sure of anything?, you would think this statement would make the public look negativally upon him. You really cant be that certain in wartime. As John D. Stufflebeem, deputy director for operations on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon:stated "As a pilot, I can do everything perfectly with a perfect weapons system and still cannot account for every weapon going exactly where it's supposed to go". This is very true but some people dont take this into account. The Rumsfeld policy really doesnt draw any attention to the Iraqi dead which is smart because it keeps the public unaware. But it seems he should be cautious because he is contracting himself. The ovious solution would be to keep casualities to a minimum this would be the best for us because innocent casulities never play well in the media, thats why alot of these examples are kept away from the americain people.