No problem Paul.

My Dad had a good time in the US Army. Got his nose bashed in fighting up in weight class. I also have friends and family in the US military currently, but they're Navy. The US public is not too tolerant of non-combat abuses, so this limits how bad the US army can get in a peacekeeping role, although it is difficult to make charges stick in any such case. Certainly an open policy of being savage such as the armies I mentioned in my previous post isn't there.

From what I know about Israel's army, they are very much a cross section of the Israeli population since service is universal (except for most Arabs). As the enemy has shifted from Nationalist to Islamist, I think Israel has gotten rougher. Fighting an enemy that believes in suicide attacks is going to cheapen one's sense of value of human life. "If they don't value their own lives why should We?"

In Ireland, the so-called "Catholic" side has always really been Nationalist. However, as near as I can tell, Rev Paisley is not an Ulster Scots Nationalist. Mr Sweeny or others from NI may want to confirm this. He strikes me as more of a religious fanatic. Very difficult to do anything with, just as the Israelis were more able to deal with the Nationalist Fatah than with the religious Hamas.

Joe