All registered voters in the U.S. can vote without being subjected to torture and death-a fact that is largely taken for granted. This freedom, although not perfect, contrasts with what is happening in many other nations.

To name just a few of the countries where elections in 2010 were preceded by torture of anti-government protesters... Read more...

Review of None of us were like this before: American soldiers and torture By Joshua E.S. Phillips

Spc. Alyssa Peterson (sketch by Margo Bendery)

History has many surprising examples of people who have chosen better alternatives than violence as a way to achieve security. Mohandas Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are obvious examples. People in power in various countries have realized the advantages of ending aggression--consider South Africa when it ended apartheid and Northern Ireland when both Protestant and Catholic leaders undertook peace talks.