I was listening to the radio on the way home from work. I caught the tale end of a story about soldiers in Iraq whose job is to pay money to Iraqis who have in some way been harmed by the American Armed forces. A broken door for instance will get you $50, a dead sheep or cow $300, and a dead relative $2500.

As I heard this I thought WTF? Why are we paying anything at all. This is war, mayhem and casualties happen. I feel sorry for the people who have lost a door, livestock, or a loved one, but this is ridiculous. If an American soldier is truly out rampaging and killing innocent civilians, then have him Court Marshalled. I just don't see how paying money for any of this solves anything.

It strikes me as a deep cultural problem in American. We seem to feel guilty about the amount of wealth we have as a nation. This guilt then leads to odd policies, military and otherwise, which weakens us as a nation. While I don't agree with the reason for going to war, once we are at war we should act like it.

If you think America has always acted like this in war, then you need to look into the histories of WWI and WWII.