Even in WWII, there were atrocities committed on all sides. The US and British bombed German cities killing untold thousands of civilians, including cities like Dresden when there was no reason to do so. We also firebombed Japanese cities in 1945. On one night alone, our bombers killed more Tokyo residents than were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. There were many such nights in 1945.

It's hard to imagine a scenario where so much of the world would be united like it was in WWII. The only one that comes to mind would be an attack with a weapon of mass destruction (chemical, biological, or nuclear) on a major population center. That scenario is so obscene that I hesitated to even write it. With the advent of nuclear weapons, it's hard to see a major ground war with a power like China. You couldn't mount a D-Day style invasion today even if we had all the troops, ships, and landing craft. A single nuclear warhead could wipe out an invasion fleet before the first troop hit shore.

Those were times in WWII so different from our own that it's hard to compare the two. For example, those troops who marched off to war had grown up in the Great Depression where people looked to the government with respect and hope. Events like the criminally stupid military policy in Vietnam and Watergate destroyed that faith in government for millions of people. I don't see that changing anytime soon. Perhaps that's for the best.

As for the Press, they have a tremendous responsibility in our country. I wish more of them would rise to that level of responsibility. It's perfectly normal for a reporter to have his/her own views but they should be reserved for the editorial page, not mixed into "news" reports in the form of bias. The bias can be subtle or very blatant. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of who they choose to quote and to what length they go to present all sides of an issue.