In the hit Sylvester Stallone movie, war hero Rambo succeeds against all odds on a hopeless rescue mission, and frees Vietnam POWs he was never supposed to find. However, when Rambo discovers that he was lied to (deliberately sent on a suicide mission in which he was supposed to die, and then abandoned by authorities) he responds by declaring war on the men who sent him to his death.

    Now, in the wake of the apparently endless Iraq war of "liberation," fiction may be quickly becoming reality.

    Like Vietnam, in today's deadly Iraq, conditions are horrible for U.S. soldiers, who can go for weeks without showers, hot food, or a change of clothing. An incredible 25,000 to 30,000 troops out of 150,000, or nearly 1 in 5, have been evacuated from Iraq because of serious injuries.

    Troops are also trapped in an increasingly deadly environment in which they are asked to kill innocent civilians as part of their mission. (As many as 100,000 to date, and counting).

    Under these conditions, it's not surprising that the same children who soldiers give food to during the day, may well be planting improvised explosive devices at night, to kill them. After all, when you occupy a country and kill hundreds of innocent people every day, how can you make peace with a people who sees you as an oppressor?

    Many soldiers in Iraq report that feel they have to either kill or be killed. At the same time, after the fact, many also report feelings of extreme guilt over their participation in the killing of innocent men, women and children (up to 55% of those involved in combat, according to CBS News, report feelings of guilt).

    In the wake of this unending bloodshed, destruction and death, some soldiers are beginning to question the wisdom of this "war of liberation" in which entire cities like Fallujah (home to 300,000 people, just a few months ago) are being obliterated.

    It should therefore come as no surprise that more and more soldiers are returning to the U.S. very angry with the authorities who lied to them about nearly everything, when they sent them to Iraq.

    Nineteen-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Andres "Andy" Raya was one of them.

    Andy was reportedly a gung-ho marine when he signed up. But the grinding reality of war quickly changed his perspective.

    When Andy returned from Iraq to visit his family in Ceres, California, in the fall of 2004, he told them in graphic detail about some of the horrors he had witnessed and in which he had participated.

    Andy's 24-year-old cousin, Alex said, "He showed us pictures of this guy's hand hanging off. He told us about going into homes and shooting them up."

    Relatives said that after he returned from Iraq, Andy had difficulty sleeping or controlling his emotions – including intense angrer at authorities – and would grab his rifle whenever he heard a loud noise.

    At Thanksgiving, Andy said he had seen Marines commit suicide rather than continue fighting in Iraq. He kept saying it was a war that had no point, that it was all for oil, and it made no sense that we were after (Osama) bin Laden but went after Saddam Hussein instead.

    Relatives say Andy wanted just one thing for Christmas – to stay with his family rather than return to combat in Iraq.

    On the evening of January 12, 2004, facing imminent redeployment to Iraq, Andy decided that he had had enough. He put on his uniform, loaded his gun, and went out looking for any U.S. authorities he could find.

    Ceres Police Lt. Bill Heyne – an investigator with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department – says, "By the statements [Raya] made at the scene, it was clear he wanted to die and take as many cops down as he could in the process."

    Other Ceres citizens who weren't authorities, however, were apparently safe. Andy told Ceres residents he passed by, "Don't worry, you're a civilian. You won't get hurt."

    When a liquor store clerk saw Andy walking around with his semi-automatic rifle in plain view, he called 911 and police quickly responded.

    When police Sgt. Howard Stevenson confronted Andy, he was in no mood to talk. Andy raised his rifle and fired twice at Stevenson's head, tragically killing him. He also shot a second police officer, Sam Ryno (who survived). Finally Andy himself was shot and killed by police.

    As far as I know, the police officers who Andy Raya shot that night in January had done nothing that could possibly have justified their shooting. But that's not the point.

    This nation needs to ask itself, "What is the war on terrorism doing to its children, and how many more Andy Rayas are already out there, just waiting to explode in anger?"

    Like all wars, even the War on Terror will eventually end. But when Rambo comes home, who protect us from our protectors?"