Thanks Pontius.. and none taken..
I read an interesting statistic a while back concerning US army personnel in Vietnam... the exact numbers I don't have but it seems that something like 92% of americans in Vietnam were there to support the 8% combatants... a sobering thought... so not everyone wearing their countries' colours gets to face some angry b*stard out to kill them...
This morning I learned while in Herat that 7 people operating for one of the organisations we work with were killed yesterday in a Taliban attack... More body bags to move (Suprisingly difficult to load and unload them with dignity I always find...having only a small turbo-prop.. )... Another of the contractors we work with has lost 93 personnel in the last 3 years.
So not everyone in a uniform is in the front line... and not everyone out of uniform is safe in an armchair... My second tour here is coming to en end and I can assure you that I AM looking forward to being in an armchair... or at least up to my waist in a cold river while trying to annoy the trout.