Hey John,
I´m really respecting you...and I´m reading your column regularly. Your thoughts often offers a different/new point of view concerning many themes, which are always worth to be thought about...
But you´re definetely wrong, if you think, these soldiers are _heros_! It´s not very brave firing cruise missiles from the distance at people who cannot fight back. It´s not very brave flying around in B-52 Bombers, throwing Clusterbombs, "Daisy-cutters" and Missiles on people who cannot fight back, because the aircraft ist out of range of anti-aircraft weapons! It´s nevertheless dangerous (because you can meet a technical defect), but it´s _not_ heroic!!!
Further it´s _not_ heroic starting an attack based on lies and false claims (remember C.Powell in the UN).
In addition to that: the soldiers in Iraq are _volunteers_!!! They are no...I don´t know the right term...compulsory military service...liable to military service (?) like many soldiers in Nam. Ok, the recruiting officers mostly chosing from the Poor (telling them lies about: good education, good job, you will never go really to war etc.), so it´s less volunteering than mercenaries, because they often have just the choice between army and staying poor. But it´s a shame, that a lot of the Poor were forced to join the army, not_heroic_!!!
Destroying Falludja was like destroying Stalingrad: cruel, bloody and in no way _heroic_ (as a lot of reports said: the US used WMD´s like poison gas and napalm during the destruction of Falludja. WMD`s were the so called "reason" for engaging Iraq!) You might call this brutal, tragic or sad, but _heroic_??
You know me, John! I´m usually not telling stupid anti-american claims, based on hipocrisy or anything else of this kind, nor do I now...please look at the pics, StevOz has linked and think about the term _heroic_!
I´ve seen a lot of pics of that kind and a movie called "Iraqi lullaby"...worse, worse, worse...at least, if you think of the bushist´s so called "reasons" for engaging Iraq.
Greets :)