We bid farewell to Canada's top general next month.
Lt.-Gen. Stuart Beare, after spending nearly a lifetime in uniform and three years as point man on every Canadian military operation, is leaving on an interesting note.
He's not calling for more bullets, bombs or planes. He's calling for diplomacy.
That tactic of averting war has fallen into disrepute lately, just as Canada has gone from emphasizing peacekeeping to creating a warrior nation mythology.
There may be times when war is necessary. However, no matter what our elected officials sell us, we should be mindful of what we're buying.
We may be told airstrikes will be precise, the conflict will be short, or that a limited force will be expedient in neutralizing a narrow threat.
But that type of language - besides being intentionally bewildering and bloodless -cloaks a lie.
War is long, and the wounds inflicted fester long after the cessation of hostilities.
The United States-led Operation Desert Storm in Iraq lasted six weeks.
The response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait seemed swift and tactical at the time. That was 23 years and four presidents ago.
Earlier this week, U.S. planes dropped bombs in Iraq following the seizure of Mosul by militants.
Violence is expected to intensify. Weapons will be lost on the battlefield, waiting for future generations, simply because we never pick up after ourselves.
Earlier this month, approximately 4,000 Germans were evacuated from Dusseldorf so technicians could defuse a bomb.
It was a U.S. aircraft bomb, and it was dropped 70 years ago.
