1.   And it is hard to portray Barak, a highly decorated former general, as a softie.

2.   Both Barak and Mordechai are decorated former generals who, like Yitzhak Rabin, bring unquestioned credibility on security issues to their support for consolidating peace with the Palestinians.

3.   But Barak, a highly decorated former general, was not deterred.

4.   Ehud Barak, a highly decorated former general, took office as prime minister of Israel with an absence of pomp.

5.   Imagine a decorated general not only personally leading his troops under fire, but also, we are told, without benefit of helmet or weapon.

6.   Vladimir Zhirinovsky, an extreme nationalist, offers no coherent economic program for Russia, and Aleksandr Lebed is a decorated former general without political or financial expertise.

7.   The highly decorated general was born in a rugged mountainous area of the Calabria region, the son of a Carabinieri sergeant famous for his investigations.

8.   The military role in politics would seem to make Musharraf, a decorated general, an unlikely peacemaker.

9.   Prince Thuong, son of the Vietnamese king Ly Anh Tuong, later became a highly decorated general in Korea who led the fight against invading Mongol hoards.