I am not suggesting moral relativism, LEJ. Nor am I suggesting that all causes are equivalent on some scale of good and evil.

I am simply saying that virtually all soldiers imagine themselves to be fighting for a worthy cause (from their worms-eye point of view) and that they will fight hard and lay down their lives on behalf of their fellow soldiers no matter which cause they are fighting for.

There's something noble in that, regardless of whether you agree with their cause or not. To see the nobility in their self-sacrificing actions is NOT necessarily to endorse the political cause they are ostensibly fighting for.

I think there were many genuine humanitarian concerns behind the American operation in Somalia which were very legitimate, and that was covered too in the movie. I have no problem with that.

The Somalis who fought back on that day were defending their section of the city of Mogadishu against a sudden incursion and attack by foreign troops who kidnapped some of their people. That was also a legitimate response from their point of view, and that's why they fought so hard. I have no problem with that either.

But do I admire the warlords like Aidid who commanded them and who ran things there??? Hell no! I regard them as power-mad criminals. But their soldiers did what soldiers always do. They fought on behalf of their own ground, their commanders, and the men next to them. That is what soldiers do. They are, for the most part, as innocent and courageous as a guard dog who defends his owner or his owner's property and risks his life in the process. Therefore, I respect their courage under fire.

That is not to say I necessarily respect their political leaders or the cause they serve! I despise certain leaders and certain political causes.

Is that clear enough?