I kind of agree with the above poster - I have a lot more sympathy for the 10s of thousands (maybe even hundreds of thousands by the time this is over) of dead Iraqis than I do for a "mere" 2000 trained, volunteer soldiers. Lest anyone think that harsh, I'm simply tired of the handwringing for a comparative few and the lack of empathy for the many.

Finish the job - properly - and leave.

it's illogical to say that individuals used the flag for their own purposes? i know i observed this happening, i'm sorry you think i'm disrespecting people in his forum (?) by pointing this out. the 2002 war vote took place in a time of recharged 9/11 styled patriotism, as it was near the one year anniversary. flags were popular at this time and adopted in part to signify the prevailing US policies. voting against the war in this environment, especially with the election weeks away, would have been implicitly "un-american."