I applaud your civility, one and all, but your arguements, in my view, are based on the assumption that dignity is an intrinsic virtue of man.

Man, left to his own designs, would have self destructed centuries ago. Only God's influence and intervention prevents it.

Would I be as bad as they if I drilled some holes in their teeth?

Naw. There's a marked difference between inflicting pain for the thrill of it , or with hatred as a motive, and inflicting pain out of necessity.

I could take whatever actions are necessary to save the lives of innocent people for their sakes, not my own pleasure.

You are suggesting that using unsavory meathods leaves a stain on the soul, but how legitimate is that argument when you're walking through the charred remains of a once quiet neighborhood and
smelling the stench of burning flesh? Is your rationale so virtuous then?

I've been in combat, and I've witnessed first hand the barbarism man is capable of, on both sides. But I don't harbor a guilt complex, nor did my taking human life under those circumstances make a wanton killer of me. Believe it or not, I've never once been tempted to pick up a rifle and kill a single soul, even those I hold in disgust.

If anything, I hold a reverence for life far more profound than I did before Vietnam. I've even come close to hitting the ditch when I swerve to miss a gopher on the road.

I think some of you fella's are too damned civilized for your own good. There are times when the savage within us all can serve a noble purpose.