Doug - my balls are so soft and demure I usually can't even find them. But when it's time to rock'n roll - ah, THAT's when they come out to party! (If you're not deaf, it does take lots of balls - the bigger the better - to endure AC/DC).   :)

pdr - I felt exactly the same way watching the scenes from Baghdad yesterday. But will life be any easier or more peaceful for the people of Iraq in the days to come? Or will Saddam's brutal regime simply be replaced by the next US-bred-and-supported dictatorship? I surely hope not, although that is standard US foreign policy to date. Wait and see ...

In the meantime, as I watched the joy on people's faces as they danced in the streets celebrating the toppling of Saddam, as I watched the Iraqis lining up to thank the handsome young - and very disciplined-looking - American soldiers (egads, was I actually feeling PROUD of my neighbours south of the border?!?) - one little boy even running up to give a soldier a kiss! - I couldn't help but think that this must be the happiest moment in most of their miserable lives.

And much to my astonishment, peacenik that I am, I found myself wondering if giving them that once-in-a-lifetime moment of joy and hope made it all worthwhile.

I guess the jury's still out on that one ... the millions of Iraqis who are dead, diseased, starving, and maimed as a result of this and the first Gulf War (and the decade of bombing and sanctions in between) won't get a vote anyway.    :(

Peace - daylia