My friend in Iraq

I have a friend from college, with whom I agree about very little politically, who is in Iraq. He is too old for military service and is over there as a independent contractor. He works in warehousing of one sort or another. It is now the beginning of his second year there. He is a foolish romantic, I kid you not. He is there because he honestly believes in this foolhardy notion of saving the middle east from themselves. While I don't agree with him, at least he put his body where his mouth is, you can't say that for many warmongers these days. They don't want to go, certainly don't want their kids to go and appear to think that this war, like Vietnam, should only be fought by those less privileged. My friend, who couldn't sign up for military service for a multitude of reasons(age being one), found a way to go anyway. So my friend is an idiot, don't think I haven't told him that on more than one occasion, in more than one context for oh so many years. I just wish that more conservatives had what I do require in my friends, not my politics, but ethics, integrity and honesty. It is clear my friend has those in spades.