The whole point of me doing a Christmas record and what I centered it around was the song 'Christmas with You' from the point-of-view of the soldiers in Iraq.

The Roman legions were formed in the first instance of citizen soldiers who yet had been made to submit to a rigid discipline and to feel that in that submission lay their strength.

At a time when 2500 American soldiers have given their lives for the cause of bringing democracy to Iraq it is sad and frustrating to watch the Republican establishment disgrace the exercise of democracy in our own House of Representatives.

And across Afghanistan every single day Afghan soldiers Afghan police and ISAF troops are serving shoulder-to-shoulder in some very difficult situations. And our engagement with them our shoulder-to-shoulder relationship with them our conduct of operations with them every single day defines the real relationship.

If those in charge of our society - politicians corporate executives and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.

Poets are soldiers that liberate words from the steadfast possession of definition.

The experts who managed the original Marshall Plan say Afghanistan needs a commitment of at least $5 to $10 billion over 5 to 10 years coupled with occupation forces of 250 000 Allied soldiers to keep the peace throughout the country.

Where there are too many policemen there is no liberty. Where there are too many soldiers there is no peace. Where there are too many lawyers there is no justice.

Neither soldiers nor money can defend a king but only friends won by good deeds merit and honesty.

If our soldiers are not overburdened with money it is not because they have a distaste for riches if their lives are not unduly long it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.

All soldiers who serve their country and put their lives at risk need to know that if something happens to them their families will be well taken care of. That's the bond we have with our military men and women and their families.

C-17s should be ready to go at various military bases around the world packed with water food medical supplies sleeping bags and tents all prepared to be air dropped in alongside soldiers and doctors to begin relief efforts.

During a trip to Iraq last fall I visited our theater hospital at Balad Air Force Base and witnessed these skilled medical professionals in action and met the brave soldiers whose lives they saved.

The day after the prison was transferred to the military intelligence command they had an entire battalion - 1 200 1 500 soldiers - arrive at Abu Ghraib just for force protection alone.

How can faceless bureaucrats in an intelligence agency deny brave soldiers a chance to tell the truth?

Toy Soldiers was my introduction to film. I certainly didn't think I was doing art by any stretch of the imagination.

History is an account mostly false of events mostly unimportant which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves and soldiers mostly fools.

I think that some of our soldiers die in the battlefield and some come home to bad health and die prematurely just by the nature of the kind of business they're in.

Many soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from serious long-term physical and mental health problems due to their service. It is unconscionable to cut the already limited health care benefits available to these brave men and women.

America's fighting men and women sacrifice much to ensure that our great nation stays free. We owe a debt of gratitude to the soldiers that have paid the ultimate price for this cause as well as for those who are blessed enough to return from the battlefield unscathed.

Here's a news flash: No soldier gives his life. That's not the way it works. Most soldiers who make a conscious decision to place themselves in harm's way do it to protect their buddies. They do it because of the bonds of friendship - and it goes so much deeper than friendship.

Our soldiers have nobly fought to protect freedom since our country's birth and have fought to protect those that could not protect themselves even in foreign lands when called upon.

I may be compelled to face danger but never fear it and while our soldiers can stand and fight I can stand and feed and nurse them.

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.