[jwalsh07]

Military doctrine does not demand door to door fighting in a city like Fallujah. It isn't necessary to accomplish the mission the CIC has given them.

While I subscribe to the theory that the only good jihadist is a dead jihadist, the vast majority are not jihadists and remembering the mission, you can't save a village by killing it.

[AlbionGirl]

You're right. One thing civlians forget which the Soldier probably never forgets, is that many battles may not be able to be lost militarily, but they can't be won that way either.

The older I get the more I marvel at and admire in the extreme, a good Soldier's mind, heart and soul. It is something so far from my natural state of existence that I find it almost illusory.

Reading the rise and fall of the Roman Empire right now, Book 1, I think I'm in love w/Trajan. Here's a question for you though, who was Gibbons writing for, a Cambridge graduate? Goodness, gracious can that man layer thought after thought after thought in one sentence. I really have to study this book, reading it is not an option if I want to retain anything.