Cleaning out a couple of items on the Iraq invasion (and be sure to follow the last link in my B&C blog this week to a wrenching Weekly Standard feature on the U.S. military's Mortuary Affairs unit)

This Wash.Post piece raised the interesting question of what it means for fighter pilots to be removed from the destruction they bring with their bombs:

In fact, pilots in the air campaign over Iraq usually hear nothing when their bombs explode and often don't see the blast, either. Their war is based on precision weapons, bombs guided by lasers and satellites to targets with often pinpoint accuracy. Since the start of military aviation, pilots have been cushioned to some degree from the carnage of combat. But the prevalence of sophisticated weaponry in this conflict offers an unprecedented level of psychic insulation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14993-2003Apr2.html

And a USA Today clip. The headline says it all:
"War brings the world to Bagdad, [Florida]"