I am truly sorry for the tragedies which have occured recently in the world, Katrina, Rita, Guatemala, Pakistan, etc. They break your heart when you hear about the awful suffering.
However, they are the constants which cannot be helped because Nature is unfeeling and science can study and understand her movements and changes.

However, when we look at man made tragedies caused by war they are infinitely worse. Just think of 200,000 men dying at Verdun in World War I. Nature was not the culprit but a group of selfish leaders of large nations vying for power or trying to avenge some wrong. This has gone on throughout history and religion is one of the motivating forces in wars. At the present time, the United States, my country, is waging a war in Iraq and our boys are being killed daily causing thei families untold suffering. We, as a nation, suffer every time we hear about another American being killed. We talk about winning..winning what? I sincerely believe that OIL is behind this and of course as usual RELIGION. We are again fighting the 'infidels' as Christianity did in times of the Crusades. Our leader is a zealot and does not listen to anyone but "God" to whom he talks and receives messages. He denies this but I believe it. God will not make us leave Iraq, only George Bush can. How can anyone be for a war. Why is George so opposed to abortion and stem cell research but has no hesitation when it comes to bombing Bagdad and slaughtering innocent people.