Most wars involve terrible suffering. Some would argue that civil wars are the worst of all because they set friend against friend and family against family. This story by Liam O’Flaherty takes place during the Irish Civil War of 1922/23. An IRA sniper with the cold gleam of the fanatic in his eyes has a shoot-out with an enemy sniper. He kills him and goes to see if he knew the man. It is tempting to feel sorry as the sniper turns over the body. That is until you remember the unarmed woman he had just shot in cold blood.
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