[Allegra]

I wouldn't be a bit surprised to hear later - that this brave Mayor has been targeted by the lunatics for assassination.

He gave a "thank you" speech in Tal Afar to our troops around February, too. And did OK after that.

But you're right...it's still dangerous to do something like that so publicly here. There are a lot of loonies running loose out there.

Americans do get thanked personally by Iraqis regularly, but you probably never hear about that kind of thing in the news. And they do it in a personal, private manner. They still run risks if the bad guys find out they're working with us infidels.

[river rat]

Local thugs are the same all over the world...over all time.

Even in Vietnam of the early 60's, if the communists found out certain members of a village extended us any help or support at all -- it wouldn't be unusual to find the entire village decimated on our next pass by....

Americans have a difficult time graping the depth of our enemy's depravity and the brutality of their techniques of control...

Semper Fi