Keep on winning, DABANSHEE. Israeli nuclear sites may be protected by American Patriot batteries because the Iraqis took it upon themselves to lob Scud missiles willy nilly around the region a few years back. Oh, but you've forgotten how the Iraqis invaded a basically defenseless country and hauled off just about everything that wasn't nailed down. Then set fire to the oil wells, creating a huge ecological disaster. Oh, but they're so fscking innocent, aren't they? Just like the PLO. But I bet you would be happy to see a couple nukes go off in Israel -- would fit your agenda of seeing the Jews dead.
If Saddam wouldn't spend all of his money on his military and his chemical and nuclear weapons programs, maybe he'd have money to spend on food -- which is what the UN embargo allows. Who is ignoring the people and starving them? It's not the international community (you do recall that these are UN sanctions, don't you) that's killing Iraqi children, it's the Iraqi government.
Opinionated is correct about the military. The military's primary intent is defense of the country, enforcement of our interests abroad, and power projection. Deterrence is a happy consequence of those missions. The method for carrying out that mission is by killing people and breaking things with extreme prejudice so as to preserve our people and our weaponry. If the military were intended to be used as a police force, they would learn police techniques. Since they learn how to shoot guns, drop bombs, and launch missiles, it's quite obvious what they are supposed to do. When you try to teach a military non-lethal techniques or use them as police, you needlessly kill soldiers. The best enemy is almost always a dead one, unless you want intelligence then you torture him first (only partially tongue in cheek).
BTW, Czar, soldiers are not there to die. They are there to kill and destroy. Dying does not accomplish the mission unless you are a suicide bomber. Dying is a risk of military operations but is certainly not accepted as a matter of fact when it happens as the result of a terrorist act. Someone mentioned that Iceland would be speaking German now if it weren't for the US. If it weren't for the US in the Cold War, they would be speaking Russian now.
integlspwr: Let us know how you do on the ASVAB!
Assassination of a political leader is outlawed by Presidential decree, which I believe was made by Carter in the late '70s. The only blatant disregard for that decree that I know about was the bombing of Libya that targeted Khadafi's tent and ended up killing his daughter. They also targeted some intelligence sites, but everyone knows what they were trying to do. That's not to say that we don't try to do it, but we just don't know about it.
Rado: The ship is in that area in support of the aircraft carrier George Washington whose battlegroup is enforcing the UN embargo of Iraq. So, they are there under color of international authority, not unilateral US action. They were refueling in Yemen.
Update on the facts: It appears that a local ship was alongside the Cole helping it to moor. That ship blew up and tore a 20x40ft hole in the side -- it was not a Zodiac as first reported. The Cole is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer which uses the Aegis missile system like Ticonderoga class cruisers. It's one of the newer ships in the Navy, commissioned 1996, and one of the most sophisticated warships in the world. Apparently, it's not one of the best armored though.
6 dead, 15 or so missing, 36 wounded (6 critically).