The world remembers the Great War for the supreme pointlessness with which it slaughtered an entire generation of British, French, German and other combatants.

WSJ: Goodbye to All That

In 1949, in the aftermath of two devastating global wars, new Geneva Conventions were developed to codify the laws of armed conflict and to limit the activities of combatants with respect both to other combatants and to non-combatants.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | The Senate Should Send The PLO A Message: There��s No Hijacking International Law

Other commercial combatants include the Asian Ladybug Stinkbug Light Trap.

WSJ: Out of Odor: Offensive-Smelling Bugs Put U.S. Farmers on the Defensive

It has greater potential than development in any other sector to absorb former combatants, strengthen household incomes and food security, and to stimulate sustainable, economic growth in remote rural areas.

FORBES: Mali Entrepreneurs Offer Path to Peace

In any event, a decisive victory by one side or the other, or a settlement between the combatants, seems sadly unlikely.

ECONOMIST: Congo-Brazzaville

The most obvious casualties are the formal combatants, those seeking to kill each other on the battlefield.

FORBES: Endangered Wartime Interpreters: The U.S. Should Protect Those Who Protect Us

One of the combatants was the ferocious Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic, but the other was Evgeni Malkin, the highly skilled Pittsburgh forward who hadn't been in a regular-season or postseason fight in the NHL in nearly four years.

WSJ: Isles to Penguins: Next Goalie, Please