For a brief moment all fighting had stopped, and the American and Iraqi military were forced to wait until nature decided to relent. For a brief moment in hell no aircraft could drop a bomb, no tanks could continue toward a predetermined target and no man, woman or child was killed by errant or intended bombs or bullets.

All military might was forced to hand over the reins, albeit briefly, to a far greater power—nature—and it had caused a momentary balance of power.

Suddenly everyone caught in that desert was treated the same as sand, wind and rain pelted exposed bodies and structures. It made no difference if you were an American, an Iraqi or an Englishman. It made no difference if your skin was white or brown. It made no difference what language you spoke. Everything was covered equally in the sheen of blowing sand as an angry storm tinted the sky orange.

It's a war that has struck me as being rather apocalyptic as I consider not the enemy but the location of the fight. As American troops march into the capital of Baghdad and journey through the ancient Euphrates Valley, is it mere coincidence that thousands of years ago Baghdad was the biblical city of Babylon, ruled by a ruthless king and his heirs until it was conquered by a Persian army?

Change the uniforms, roll back the clock and reflect: Has anything really changed other than our technological advancements in weaponry?

In a campaign labeled "shock and awe" the rules of engagement seem identical to the time of the Old Testament. Perhaps that is what I find the most troubling about what I'm witnessing on a daily basis, as scenes of war continue to flood the television, the newspapers and the Internet. I can't help but reflect on where we have come as a global civilization. With all our high-tech achievements and modern conveniences, one can easily argue that we have made a millennium leap on the materialistic front, but on the humanitarian side we still seem to have a long way to go.

How is it that we have learned so little from all the battles fought throughout history? That nations and leaders refuse to negotiate, preferring to translate their verbal battles of egos and wits into weapons and wars.

After centuries of confrontation it should no longer be justifiable to say that this is how it is and that is how it will always be. We should have advanced by now as a people and have become a population that can resolve conflict through negotiation, compromise and words. We should not have to send young men and woman in the prime of their lives into harm's way to face others equally young. And yet we still do.

But somewhere along the way I can only hope that it will change, as did those who called World War I the war to end all wars. Or the generation that witnessed the frightening power of the atomic bomb in World War II, or the countries that witnessed the fallen victims to chemical warfare during the Gulf War.

Every time I think there can't be anything worse than what has already been invented I am proven wrong. But I keep hoping that one day I might be right and that using the terminology "weapons of mass destruction" will become an archaic phrase in our civilization's vocabulary.

Of course, there are many who will argue that I am simply being naive, that this is just the way it will always be and that universal peace is a dream that can never be realized.

These are the same folks who argue that there will always be bullies that have to be kept in check because they are just itching to prove they're the toughest kids on the block.

To those fatalists I can only reply, you had better hope not, or otherwise one day that big bad boy will blow himself up along with everyone and everything else. And that will be one hell of a way to finally get all the fighting to permanently stop.

Moryt Milo is the editor of The Willow Glen Resident. She can be contacted at 400.200.1051 or mmilo@svcn.com.