THOUGHTS ON WAR AND MANKIND "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power." - Charles A. Beard IN THE HISTORY OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY IN EUROPE, A CATACLYSMIC SERIES OF MAJOR WARS BETWEEN ALL SIGNIFICANT POWERS LASTED FOR SOME THIRTY YEARS OF DEATH AND DEVASTATION. THE MILITARY TOLL WAS ENHANCED BY PLAGUE, STARVATION, AND GOVERNED BY SELFISH INTERESTS. "The most persistent sound which reverberates through history is the beating of war drums." - Arthur Koestler MAN DOES NOT SEEM TO LEARN, AND LEVELS OF DESTRUCTION AND KILLING WERE ONLY ENHANCED AS THE CENTURIES ROLLED BY. THE 20TH CENTURY SAW POPULATIONS DESTROYED, AND THE 21ST MAY REFLECT THE SAME. "History is but the unrolled scroll of prophecy" - President James A. Garfield IT IS NOT HARD TO PROJECT SUCH A SAD HISTORY A HUNDRED YEARS IN THE FUTURE, AND THE SECOND TIRTY YEARS WAR, SET IN THE 22ND CENTURY, ONLY FORECASTS WHAT MAY WELL HAPPEN IF MANKIND REMAINS AS HE - AND SHE - HAVE FOR ALL HISTORY." CLINT GRANGER Colonel, Infantry U.S. Army, Retired