As you might have heard, authorities now have a videotape of Daniel Pearl’s death. We have talked at length about his death and now this final disgrace comes about.

This certainly does make us think a lot less about who to blame and more about the people involved. Mr. Pearl’s wife has spoken and I’m sure that all of us who have been thinking of this in the abstract now feel a little silly.

What I find interesting is that the first thought that crossed my mind reading this story is that “this is war.” Our politicians and other officials have been telling us that this is a war that will be fought in totally new ways and new places. I believe we have the first casualty of our new kind of war.

Everyone wants to take the moral high ground and not stoop to the level of terrorists. But I want to ask, “Is there moral highground to be had in a war?” I don’t believe so. No matter what the Geneva Convention says, when two men face off on a battlefield in whatever form that battle takes place, the only rule is survival at all costs. Honor and bravery are noble pursuits and I thank God that humans are sometimes capable of these things in war. However, at the end of day, we need to be the last ones alive, if that’s what it takes.