I suppose its probably because this thread really took off once it was off topic, but I feel there is no good way to address everything that has come up here. Overall, I agree with Worst.NS.Member and Mitch about US involvement and our reasons for being in Iraq right now. The military does kill and destroy, but they also do a lot of good, such as diffusing situations, transporting aid and keeping the peace in volatile areas. Its my hope that every American soldier would fight for innocents, no matter what nationality and background they are. I think for a large majority, whether they know so or not, this trait is basic amongst everyone, and thus, I guess I have some trust in the army as a whole to dot he right thing when deployed.
However, I certainly take issue with who commands the deployment and the reasons for doing so initially.
Facts are, our nations army cant be everywhere and cant stop everything bad from happening in the world. Bad shit is always going to happen. You are always going to have friendly casualties when you have two million soldiers deployed in a nation in civil war. Children are always going to get caught in the crossfire. I think whats important is that we understand that that stuff happens accidentally, and we take care to minimize that as much as possible. Thats simply the best we can do. Sucks, I know, but thats what happens in wars. Innocent people die.