I agree, McGrath. What really, really gets me, however, is that even while US soldiers are behaving like an occupying force, the rhetoric is still going round about creating democracy in Iraq, "liberating" Iraq, etc.

I read some months ago about American soldiers who, when they break into a house to search for whatever, force Iraqi men down on the ground in a prone position, with their boots on the men's necks. That forces the forehead to touch the ground, which is repugnant to Muslims, whose foreheads are only supposed to touch the ground during prayer.

If the US is going to invade another country in the name of "democracy," a little sensitivity training in the culture of that country might go a long way.