Is a military background still of advantage?

[angus]

yes, or at least it is with me.  Those who have sent men to their deaths, or who have crawled though sh**t dodging bullets are less likely to take authorizations of militarily lightly than the armchair warriors we have in power just now.  If Bush had served in Viet Nam, instead of spending that period drunk and high on cocaine, absent without leave from a cushy reserve position, he might not have been so quick to ask the congress for an invasion of Iraq, and if the members of congress had served, they might not have been so quick to grant it.  In fact, you'll recall that it was Powell, among all his deputies, that hesitated the most and most seriously sought proof of weapons labs before committing.