I agree that there are remarkable and compassionate individuals in our military that are true ambassadors for our country.

Let's remember however that in any group those individuals will very likely not be the majority and I've stated numerous times that my own experience with the military has shown the ratios there to be even less stellar. That's not to say that overall there are more acts of bad than there are good. It's simply not a question of math. Human nature and our fascination with extremes makes atrocities have more weight.

I would truly love it if, when I turned the television to the nightly news each evening, I wasn't deluged by all the acts of violence and suffering going on around me. Truth be told though, if the news was simply all good and uplifting with tales of kittens being rescued from trees and athletes visiting sick children in hospitals, I'd quickly bore of it all. I somewhat despise that aspect of my humanity but I don't think we have the capacity to truly alter that component. I still get a warm spot over tales such as this thread but I also know that one horrific atrocity of rape or murder in Iraq will overwhelm a ton of these stories.

What I've always asked for then is simply the acknowledgment of this dynamic and a true understanding of the risk of alienation a country must assume when sending in armed warriors to another land. I think tales like this need to be told but look at who the audience is. It's not the people in the Mideast. It's a bunch of sorry political hacks like we all are sitting here in the comfort of our homes.

I would hope that Tom's intent by publishing this was simply one of giving us a warm fuzzy and renewed hope for mankind during trying times, but it's clear from his later posts that it's simply another attempt to cast dispersion at the media and those that have worried about the failures.

Are there great and compassionate people in our military? Oh, you bet. Are there enough?

Art