In response to Steve's experience with students who don't or can't talk about the war. Could it be, at some level, a way of dealing with guilt, a sort of horror at what is being done in one's name? I feel it here in Australia, where lying politicians and propagandistic media can't make their case effectively, so people either demonstrate or shun it. Another reason could be (for some undergraduate students) that they lack the historical perspective to make sense of what is going on. I have followed this closely, for months, and still find myself going through mental gymnastics to make sense of what is a hugely complex legal, ethical, moral, historical (and strategical) set of issues. On the other hand, I have taught students who were only vaguely aware of World War Two; for whom Vietnam meant interesting food and a great place to travel to; and the Middle East was just a hot region with strangely noisy people until 9/11 blasted its way into the general consciousness-to then be manipulated by our leaders.