Modern warfare creates immediate feedback. An Iraqi teen kept a diary of war and it’s now available online. They’re not easy words to read. If you’re like me, you’ll follow the link read a few lines and think you know the gist of it. It’s less painful that way. But you can act like you know what Amal experienced. It’s harder to write things off when you know the face.

Then there’s Stuart, the journalist who lost his foot and his colleague to a landmine. His blog continues with only a few days lost, and now you can see how Stuart gets used to life with “Mr. Stumpy,” as he calls his amputated foot.

War sucks. That’s always part of the equation, but the reality is somehow harder to face. I could also display atrocity after atrocity committed by Saddam Hussein. Then we could compare heartbreak to heartbreak, bloodshed to bloodshed, gruesome image to gruesome image and see who wins. War or peace? I think everybody loses, no matter how you roll the dice.