Let’s say your 18-year-old daughter, on her way out for the evening, was vague about her plans or destination. Would you send her along in a car with an imprecise steering mechanism because, after all, she didn’t even know where she was going? Perhaps that logic would appeal to former Pentagon weapons expert Pierre Sprey. In a CBS Evening News story this week about the inefficacy of the ammunition used in Iraq, Sprey justified the use of underpowered, inappropriate, non-lethal 5.56 mm bullets, saying, "There is no such thing as a well-aimed shot in combat, because combat is fought by scared 18-year-olds who haven't been trained enough and are in a place they've never seen before." There are plenty of maddening aspects of the never-ending Middle East war, but cynicism such as this about the idealistic young men and women we send to carry out our mission is about as disheartening as it gets. By the same logic, maybe we should recruit even younger Americans, and more of them, and arm them with BB guns.

Photos from the WashingtonPost.com feature Faces of the Fallen