You can only try to quarantine them in their own little fantasy world - broken legs will slow them down - and hope their poison doesn't infect too many of the coming generations

LWM, I live and commute and generally know people who are on the other side of the dividing line between who pays for it and who gets paid. Military people, former military now contracting, and just those who have taken opportunities, mostly younger workers, in the burgeoning "security industry".

Here are three of the distinctive (from mine anyway) tenets of their thinking, as I am able to infer them:

1) They are America's heroes. The first line of defense against the, well, the whatever, but it's out there.

Okay, everybody should have an idealistic conception of their job

2) They look forward to a long career, and expect to be rewarded (!!!) for their part in the War On Terror! The fact that their job could just be part of a ridiculous political boondoggle is not within the realm of permissable thought.

3) They feel, to a man or woman, that their "contribution" to America's security raises them to some degree out of the maze of laws and regulations the rest of us have to bear.

4) Disagreement is treason- one must never "lose control" of a situation. Starts with a few words, the next thing you know they whip out the suicide vest. Gotta stop it at the words, and that is what the force of law is designed to do!

And yes, God alone knows what they are telling their kids.Admittedly, this is a subjective overview of the things said to me, and around me on a regular basis. Maybe you got to stretch your mind a little to encompass the possibility that I listen as well as kvetch, but I do, honest!

How much of your personal treasure will you give to the Iraqi people?

Isn't that a funny thing about Shooter? He knows so much about us, our avidity's, our infirmities of thought, right down to my marital problems ("doesn't satisfy his wife"), and our collective love for Saddam.

Yet we know so little of Shooter! And how inspiring it would be, and how convincing too, to know that Shooter's ethical schema of hard work, rugged individualism, and pugnacious intervention in the cause of liberty has given him everything one could ask of life and a whole lot more.

I mean, what if Shooter sat around the house all day, supported by his wife and her family, not even responsible or competent to do household management, and kept out of the way by the womenfolk. You know "Shooter, go troll somebody and leave me alone, I've got things to do. Isn't there a blog you haven't bothered lately?"

Then he would have a lot of time to post, wouldn't he.

Of course, the real situation is that Shooter has attained every summit, acquired every treasure, and, after giving back generously to the community and garnering love and respect on all sides, has discovered that life holds no greater pleasure, especially to one whom life's pleasures are all as so many baubles he can possess with the merest snap of his fingers, than to sit in a cheeto-covered basement, trolling UT.

Which do you think it is? I wish Scooter would tell us. It would give his political pronouncements some gravitas along with their charm.

This is problematic when the enemy is mixed with, and indistinguishable from, civilians that you're pretending to protect.

That was one of the points in favor of disbanding the Iraqi Army. Once military-trained men, with their personal arms, were back as civilians, as soon as they revolt at all, all civilians become combatants, or can be considered so. Nasty way to do business, but the US had a great deal of difficulty getting this thing started, and had to use every trick in the book. Had those men stayed in the Army, they, clearly distinguishable from civilians, could be a military enemy. If they agreed to "surrender" and take orders from Americans (or Iraqis in the new government) that would be a military mutiny, and no-one cares how brutally you put those down.

But making them all civilians! That's brilliant! Now the whole civilian population can be labeled a potential enemy!

Anyway RMP, who knows a lot more than me about the sacrifices and efforts Americans made to get this war started, after the Iraqi Army collapsed in the face of the invasion. He could tell you how many exceptions we made to the laws and conventions governing occupations to give those Iraqis everything, everything, they needed to fight us, and it still took the lazy bastards about a year to get going. You can't blame them. It was a daunting prospect, although I'm sure their confidence revived when they found out what it was like.

And they seemed to pick it up quite well.