The first day I was here, we visited the Alamo and had nachos and margaritas on the river walk – a walled-in stretch of the San Antonio river which has the feeling of a Texas Disneyland. There were military cadets in bright blue uniforms marching along the water’s edge with their families and girlfriends, looking as clean and perfect as Disney characters.

But then I met the war correspondent from Sari’s paper. He had just finished a 3-hour-long interview with a veteran from Iraq who had had both his legs blown off.

The reporter told us: “We sat in the restaurant for 3 hours and no one came up to the man to thank him for his service to the country.” (I was ashamed that I myself have seen maimed veterans and not done that.)

The veteran asked him: “How can I be a father with no legs?”