As many of you know, my server decided to crash last weekend and I was unable to get around to repairing it until this morning. My apologies to those of you who have files or sites hosted at the intd.net domain but I guess you get what you pay for. ;) Nevertheless, the system is back up now and I'm going to take some extra precautions to try and prevent this from happening again. Now that the server is back up I guess it's time to update the site.
Most of my time lately has been spent working, going to school, and preparing for my move to New York which will take place less than 80 days from now. I go back to Rochester this coming Saturday to see my Nicole and sign the lease to our apartment...oh, and of course begin furniture shopping! ;) mmm...zero-percent interest. I guess there isn't really much news on the personal front.
But there sure is news on the war front...and how! Our forces have managed to advance from Kuwait to Baghdad in less than three weeks; pretty impressive. Of course, this incredibly fast advance sure left our asses exposed and our supply lines stretched. Now, this probably wouldn't have been as big of a problem were it not for the unparalleled freedom the press has enjoyed in reporting just about anything it pleases, regardless of its potential impact on military operations. There's nothing more patriotic than a CNN reporter broadcasting live during an advance blabbing to the world that our pace has left key elements of our force wide open to enemy attacks. Keep in mind that Iraq does not have a sophisticated military intelligence network and gets pretty much all of its operational reports from the world's largest information security hole: CNN. So, while our boys with the microphones are busy hamming it up for the cameras, Saddam's army is taking copious notes and directing their suicide squads accordingly.
Another thing that drives me insane is the fact that we value the life of a single Iraqi civilian more than ten of our soldiers. One piece of munitions falls off target and strikes some Iarqi civilians and the world is in an uproar. Nevermind the fact that in WWII millions of civilians were killed in bombing raids by both sides. Yeah, it's a shame when innocent lives are lost in a conflict but we need to be realistic here. Wars are not pretty and people will die. The United States and the rest of the coalition (namely Great Britain) have done an outstanding job at minimizing the potential for "collateral damage." Instead of screaming about civilian casualties being "unacceptable" and "alarming" (as the U.N. and Red Cross have), we should be applauding our arms manufacturers and the men and women who operate them for doing such a splendid job in making this conflict as humane as they possibly can.
I think this country has forgotten how to fight a war. Real wars aren't won in a matter of weeks. War takes years. Germany wasn't defeated overnight and we shouldn't be surprised when this conflict lasts more than two weeks. Get real! As Donald Rumsfeld said, "We wouldn't have trained and mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops if we thought this was going to be over in five minutes." It took us over four years to win World War II, it's going to take us more than a couple weeks to win Gulf War II. And guess what folks...Americans
will die. Yes, I know that this comes as very shocking news to many of you but brace yourselves...we might even lose a hundred--no, two hundred--no, maybe five hundred soldiers. E-gads!
In the words of Winston Churchill, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
And now, a brief commentary by Nicole on the many flags which have been lowered to half staff:
I'm angered...if you have an American flag, DON'T LOWER IT!!! This is a war, people WILL die...but dont lower your flags during war time. The lowering of the flag is supposed to be for national mourning, not everytime a random soldier falls. Now, some may think I'm being cold hearted, but you're really doing your family or loved one a disservice if you lower the flag for his or her individual death. It cheapens it. Lowering the flag devalues the very symbol that these soldiers are fighting and losing their lives for. You should be proud that they have sacrificed, so you dont have to. So raise your flags and fly 'em high.
0 comments
permalink