but by no means the definitive word about the right or wrong of the war. I was struck by the fact that Yon witnesses an event which features tortured and mutilated bodies of children and can see only the good of a mission that might just be implicit in inciting the violence that led to their deaths.

I think what reading something like this illustrates is the complete polarization of human minds of which I think you are an obvious victim. Yon has the mind of a warrior. It was absolutely apparent to me that a man of his ilk could easily be surrounded by the horror of war for the rest of his existence and always find the glory and purpose to the armed conflict.

That same warrior brain simply does not allow the gray that always emanates from human interaction. The perpetrators of those horrific deeds simply sprang from the Devil's seed. There was nothing in their life experiences that would've driven a man from any cultural background to turn into such a savage despite numerous accounts from our own history of incredible injustice and mayhem by descendants of the guys that now run our country.

I read a bit more about how Yon ended up where he did and how he's funded. Seems he gets by these days on Paypal donations and touts that as if it means he has widespread support of other citizens and that he's beholding to nobody. However, were I an administration that wanted a powerful internet voice supporting my mission it'd be an easy task to steer wealthy advocates towards the donation site.

I'm sorry Tom, but I simply don't trust a source that tells me we're all good and they're all bad. His input is valuable for a piece of the puzzle but there's too many journalists, especially the ones from other countries, that seem to me to give a much more balanced account and include the gray areas in their analysis.

Bottom line - armed combat by American soldiers in the Mideast causes changes. A critical mind with a knowledge of history knows that there are both good and bad changes anytime blood is spilled. Sources that can only see one part of that picture have stopped thinking.

Art