sirius_sir wrote:

“…there are possibly thousands of young Iraqi males so favorably impressed by the U.S. soldier as to want to be like him.”

I’m tryin to envision what it is you think would impress Iraqi (or Afghani) males so much about our occupying forces. Surely they are not sitting in a bar having a beer and shooting the sh*t with each other. Would it be their courteous driving habits? Their pleasant middle of the night visits to their humble homes? Those nifty guns they tote about? Maybe they really hated that uncle of theirs killed? Put the shoe on the other foot. What possible features do you think would favorably impress you if the US were occupied by some foreign force?