In response to my request for feedback to my post on Iraqi prisoner "abuse" I have received 57 91 emails more than 200 (lost count) so far. Only seven 11 of about 20 of you condemn the treatment of the prisoners and the rest, while not actually approving it, are saying "fuck the Iraqis." The reasons show an amazing similarity, most having to do with Islamic killings and torture practices in Israel and Afghanistan and a few mention Saddam. I suspected this was a "class" outrage and not a "folks" outrage. Thanks a lot for all the feedback, I tried to reply personally to all of you kind enough to "vote". This email was not typical but is also my experience (no permission given to reveal name)

I'm 61 and a Viet vet. Count me as a conservative. I spent my tour in '67 with an MI detachment supporting an Infantry Division. My job included running agent nets, interrogate suspects and other practical stuff to find out what Charlie was doing. I am trying (w/o success) to explain to my wife what I think was going on in Iraq. It's a PR disaster for sure, but may have been seen by the parties involved as the best method (humiliation) to get some useful tactical intel. What she doesn't want to hear is that we have always done this sort of thing (and much worse) in order to win. We still don't really get it. Is it remotely possible that a re-elected Bush will finally tell the world in concrete terms that we mean to remake the Middle East and will do all necessary to that end?

I heard similar stories and some WWII guys told me that they kicked the shit out of some Germans. War ain't ping pong.