I remeber, I went to war.
I forget what it was for,
Was it the one to end all war?
Or was that the one they fought before?
Was it the one that wiuld set us free,
Make the world safe for Democracy?

No, Neither of those could be the one.
When my war was over,
They said we'd won.
Bob Reichenbach,
Director, The Lincoln Initiative.

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Without doubt it is tragic that 3500 or so US soldiers have died, and tens of thousands more have had their lives negatively impacted forever, not to mention the untold number of family and friends.

However, these misguided kids - coerced or not - chose to be there. Though they were often naive and sometimes stupid, they knew there would be risk.

What about the Iraqi civilians, who didn't ask for any of this carnage, and have absolutely no say? How about spending a bit of time on your precious Memorial Day thinking about them, the innocents of a sovereign nation your primitive, corrupt and criminal administration invaded and occupied for the basest and most immoral of reasons: money and power. To me the Iraqis are far more worthy of compassion and consideration than some American John McCain wannabes out for a thrill, who happened to have a run-in with reality.

Your country's actions in this, your latest exploitation of those weaker or less aggressive is simply shameful.

Josh, do you have the lastest figures on Iraqi citizen death and injury. I didn't see them in the article . . . indeed, do you know why they weren't included?

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...yeah, and eleven or twelve more on monday...

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I sat through a TV program concerning Chimpanzees today and was not suprised to see that Chimps have about 99% human Genetics.

What brings me to write here is the story line about the Chimps. They enjoy ripping monkeys to shreds for their meat and have eaten human babies as well as monkeys, they also attack adult humans ripping off fingers and tearing into limbs.

They form gangs and go to war against their own kind, particularly if they are from another tribe. The gangs are formed of adult males, and one comment was that when they are on the rampage you can almost smell the testosterone.

The researchers are studying these animals behaviour because they believe that this relates to Human behaviour, and the hope is that the research may lead to an understanding of the human species reasoning for wars. Is it territorial? jelousy? or just pure bloody mindedness?

Studying the conflicts we continue to endure just goes to show that although we believe we are sophisticated higher beings, some of us are not that far from swinging through the trees.

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...(or maybe not) but I just cannot get that excited about these "troops" anymore, especially anyone who joined AFTER any evidence that that Chimp and Company led us there under false pretenses.

In fact the quality of troops is sooooo low now that it is generally accepted among them that killing Iraqi citizens and torture is OK. Can't feel sorry for people like that who support a bunch of Sociopaths.

Even when many wounded are interviewed, they continue to spew the bile that they are "proud" to have served this country. What is to be proud about?

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