"It’s wisdom, but not the satisfying kind. It offers little comfort to the afflicted. What seemed like clear morality two decades ago has gone completely dark. Intervention in Libya created a failed state, a base for jihadists, and more killing. Non-intervention in Syria allowed for a failed state, a base for jihadists, and massive killing. No one should be sleeping well."

We are used to thinking of war as a contest between nations, cultures, religions, ideologies, even economic systems. This deludes us into thinking that it is a rational tool for implementing policy and imposing one's will; or perhaps preventing others from doing so. Maybe we've got it all wrong.

It used to be said that all wars were wars of attrition. Perhaps that is wrong. Maybe wars have become exercises in extermination. And the factors that gave combatants an advantage in the past, such as numbers, wealth, technology, leadership; even morale, will and determination, simply don't matter any more.