I don't know anything about the site, Iraq has a voice, other than it promises to give Iraqis a voice. So if I am being naive in taking it at face value, I hope someone will tell me.

This post records compassion shown to an Iraqi man by American soldiers. Mind you, rescue from a mob — well, that's a job we hope they do. That sounds a tad niggardly. Given the constant danger everyone is in, for some Iraqis, they do make a difference, and in the political ranting over the whole Iraq Thing, we often overlook that.

Yesterday I came across Chikitika's blog where I read about the funeral banners that go up in neighbourhoods whenever there are deaths. Of course googling the banners, sidetracked me even further. But we can't overlook that there are far more black banners than there are white banners — the white banners signifying those who have been killed by American actions.

I think it's like this: we have to get past the point of feeling so squeamish about what's happening in Iraq and past seeing it purely as a bloody big blunder.

If you look closely, it's not all noise and nonsense out there. When they're off duty, many soldiers are involved in projects to help and rebuild local communities. It's not all blogging and bloke stuff out there. Maybe, less grudgingly, we should recognise the peacekeeping part when we spot it.