Comparing the War in Discworld to Real Life

I'm not too optimistic that we'll have a lot of time in class tonight, so I figured rather than saving this topic for the class, I'd let us discuss this here on the blog over the next week as we prepare for our paper presentations. I haven't been able to get more than halfway through the book yet, so I'm not complete with my thinking on this, but since this was published in 2003, during a time of war hawks in America, there must be some commentary through the book about what's going on today. What have you guys found? Both comparisons and contrasts are welcome. And anyone who has read other Discworld books can add a depth to this, I'm sure. Have at it!