Blaming the soldiers on the ground for the invasion of Iraq, illegal and aggressive or not, is rather like blaming the clerk in the convenience store for selling a pack of cigarettes because they cause cancer. My personal opinion is that this war is wrong, but I choose to reserve my dislike for Mr. Bush and the rest of the politicians.

I also choose to continue to believe that our troops, including the British and Australians in Iraq and the Czechs, Germans and others in rear support, will continue to be as sensitive as possible to the need to preserve the lives, safety and property of the civilian population. I assume that those who believe that there cannot be anything positive about the US military have noticed that a number of them have lost their lives already for thinking that people dressed as civilians are always noncombatants.

I also believe that we will return the country to local control as rapidly as possible. It may be that I am living in a fool's paradise, but I believe that Mr. Bush cares more about public opinion...and his chances for reelection in 20 months...to do otherwise.