I really liked this letter to Andrew Sullivan from a Gulf War veteran who remembers how lots of Iraqi soldiers gave up, back in that war, without firing any shots. They knew that if you surrendered to Americans, you'd be fed well, treated kindly, and not tortured.
Looking back, I think that one of the main drivers in these men'sheads was that they knew, absolutely, that they'd get fair treatmentfrom us, the Americans. We were the good guys. The Iraqis on the lineknew they had an out, they had hope, so they could just walk away. (Afew did piss themselves when someone told them we were Marines. Gofigure.) Still, they knew Americans would be fair, and we were.
