Bows, it absolutely perplexes me how seemingly intelligent and articulate people like Tom can be so unwavering in refusing to admit that overwhelming military force is only a minimally effective short term solution to complex human interactions. In many ways it's one of the most ineffective means of dealing with things because of the decades of fallout that occur through multiple generations.

I keep wondering if it's just that the man hasn't served any time within our military structure but then again I know veterans that are as naive as he seems. There's some common thread that makes certain types of individuals so scared of the world around them that they convince themselves they must strike first to keep from being a victim. Yet often they don't do the striking themselves. Somehow it's more convenient to let someone else do the dirty work for them, to send the battle far away fought by faceless and nameless warriors.

Bowser, you know as I do what the makeup of the vast majority of the military is. We don't need statistics from the government to assess the quality of the personnel we put behind the most lethal arsenal ever assembled. These guys aren't ambassadors of peace for the most part. They're often the same bunch that would end up in gangs or become trailer park trash jumping from one minimum wage job to the next and beating their wives. That's not to disparage the job they do when we need to fight. They're the best in the world. However, these folks just don't spread good will when they go in. They kill people and destroy things. Sure the goal is there to win the hearts and minds of the people you come across but there are few people truly up to that task and it's extremely difficult when you've created piles of rubble with twisted baby bodies lying underneath.

I wonder how Tom would do as a citizen of Ramadi where he there during all of this. My guess is his fear would compel him to act exactly as you describe the citizens of that town. He'd suck up to whoever had the most force, pretending to support the Americans when they had the lead and revert back to harboring the insurgents to protect himself and his family once the Americans left. Maybe it's telling that in another post he insinuated that without wars like Iraq we're facing a Muslim takeover. Perhaps that seems like an inevitability to him because he knows he wouldn't fight back himself once they got to his home.

Art