Pilgrim, agreed they have access, but there is a big diference between, getting a senior officer to authorise their use to sepcially trained officers who have to obtain them for a specific purpose from the armoury, to walking around with a gun available on your hip at all times.
MeasuringRhyme, the Invasion of Kuwait was a hostile attack and intervention was requested by the legal government of that country, the lastest in Iraq was totally diferent, and was based on alledged WMD that have never been proved or found. To compare one with the other is clearly incorrect. And as for the comment "Had it not been for the US, Kuwait would've belonged to Iraq!" It was not only the US involved, and that was sanctioned by the UN, without any twisting of the UN Sercurity Council Resolution as with the ongoing one.