Thinking is a rare privilege, is it not? It’s difficult for me to come to any other conclusion as I observe what goes on in public here and abroad. I mean, it’s just so damned rare to catch a glimpse of what would pass for sincere, independent and rational thought that this faculty must be at least equivalent to the most priceless of treasures we can imagine. Indeed. How else can it be that so many have the apparent incapacity to make the distinction between a common foot soldier, platoon commander, pilot or aircrew and a murderous and despotic former head-of-state? According Saddam Hussein the respect and dignity we accord to a true prisoner of war is absurd. The Geneva Conventions were never intended to apply to this situation. In actuality, the Geneva Conventions exist mostly as a very important component of troop morale, just as does the battlefield principle of leaving no man behind. Troops abhor the thought of physical torture only slightly less than the thought of their remains not finding a proper resting place. Principles don’t exist in a vacuum. They apply to a context of facts and circumstances, and it is the exercise of the mind,…