Every now and again I run into somebody who really, truly believes that war is almost always the answer. Pretty much all of the time these are people who have no personal experience with war. They are also people who think that war is cheaper in what they call the "long run" (hint: don't try that argument with an academic historian) or that it will solve things soon.

Wars don't do either; they are expensive and their effects are long. But that is usually not enough for most who prefer advocating violence that they, themselves, neither experience nor suffer from. So here, now, I will give you a tool.

Show them, those who want to fight from the comfort of their living room, this video. You see these kids are not from the latest casting call for FRIENDS II, and they are not strange aliens. Show them this, then ask, are these your enemies? I know that they can never be my enemy, and I have no shortage of those already.

So show them this. Tell them a veteran sent it to you.

Show that video, which could be Brooklyn, New York or Cleveland Heights, Ohio. And I hope that with the courage of the Iranian kids I just linked to, or what you have learned it means to be a soldier, or just what got pounded into you by good parents, you will agree: War and Killing are serious shit. Don't do it unless you must.

Robert Bateman (Lt. Col., Ret.) writes for Esquire when he is in the mood. He used to have a different profession. He also writes books. You can reach him at R_Bateman_LTC@hotmail.com.