I wouldn't say ashamed, Keith. That seems too mild. At first, with the police incidents, I was shocked because I couldn't understand why the police would treat someone like they did. My father was a police officer before he became a lawyer (keep the jokes down!). The police I had grown up around weren't the men I saw on tv. It was really difficult for me to wrap my head around at first. But then, that shock turned to horror as I realized how those charged with upholding the law can twist it based on how sour their own hearts are.

And, I am horrified by what a few men and women that serve in the US military are doing and have done, partly because it reflects on all of us servicemembers, but mostly because human beings should never be treated in such a manner. So, when I hear about and see the things servicemembers from other countries are doing or have done to Iraqi youths, I am brought back to when I first realized that those charged with upholding the law can just as easily become the perpetrators. As I can't comment on it as a British soldier, I comment on it as a fellow human being. It is inexcusable, horrific, and should never be characterized by words such as "shameful." It is much more than shameful. I wish I had a word powerful enough to describe how I feel to know that soldiers have become the same evil they were so eager to stop when they first put on that uniform.

E