Brazen Hussies

When you get into trouble 5,000 miles from home,
you’ve got to have been looking for it
--Will Rogers
____________

The rubber meets the road with yet another brazen attack upon U.S. forces in Iraq. The previous daylight capture from a checkpoint was termed ''daring;'' this one, ''brazen.'' It is like a bridge too far. They are not playing fair. Haven't we taught them good manners yet?

Yet again, good American soldiers end up with tire tracks across their backs (''Al Qaeda Group Says it has 3 U.S. Troops Missing After Deadly Attack.'')

U.S. troops will suffer the same indignities--or worse--to which we have subjected inmates at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, bet on it. Safe to say, we have brought the calamities upon ourselves:

''An al-Qaida front group announced Sunday it had taken American soldiers in a deadly attack the day before, as thousands of U.S. troops searched insurgent areas south of Baghdad for their three missing comrades.

''The Islamic State in Iraq, a coalition of eight insurgernt groups, offered no proof for its claim that it was behind the attack Saturday in Mahmoudiya that also killed four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator.

''If the claim proves true, it would mark one of the most brazen attacks by the umbrella Sunni insurgent group against U.S. forces here.''

This is not an 'Islamic State of Iraq'' apologist site. But I will reiterate: to receive Geneva Convention protections for our soldiers, it is essential that the U.S. observe these quaint legalities.

While there is no proof that U.S. compliance with the G.C. would be reciprocated, there is always the possibility. And there is a near certainty that if the U.S. disobeys them, no one else will accord them to the U.S., either. When our soldiers' lives are at stake, any effort is reasonable. After the soldiers have been captured, it is too late.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, U.S. military spokesman, said the military made "every effort available to find our missing soldiers." Let's put our money where our mouths are by actually supporting three troops in extreme need of support. Since the U.S. is willing to pay out large sums for the capture of crummy people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, let's offer a large reward for the return of our soldiers.

There is much to say about this capture, but Ranger will refrain as an honor to these prisoners of war.

As an aside, I include the following as a lovely illustration of the effectiveness of the troop surge:

''The statement (of the U.S. troop capture) came on one of the deadliest days in (Iraq) in recent weeks, with at least 126 people killed or found dead.'' Among these, a ''suicide truck bomb tore through the offices of a Kurdish political party in northern Iraq, killing 50 people, and a car bombing in a crowded Baghdad market killed another 17.''

Two U.S soldiers died in separate bombings. (AP).