In the process of watching Condaleeza Rice defend herself against charges by George Tenet on CNN with Wolf Blitzer as I write this. Not pretty to watch her squirm. Hard to remember a worse foreign policy blunder in our history. How can anyone defend this administration?

Not pretty to watch her squirm. Hard to remember a worse foreign policy blunder in our history.

I was watching that as well. Depressing stuff. Changing channels wasn't helpful, either, Joe Biden (yuck!), McCain (blaghh!)...where's the change going to come from?

Hell of an article by Frank Rich in the New York Times today.
MHW

CNN's "Week at War" just closed with their usual line up of fallen soldiers...the last two of them 20 years old, same age as my older step son.

There are times I wished there really was a hell for the criminals responsible for sending these chldren to their deaths.

Frank,

I don't like this war, either, but let's not forget that we currently have an all-volunteer army. No one is forcing these kids to go fight; they all volunteered to go.

I wish they hadn't, too.

al

al -

I see the "all-volunteer army" as part of the problem. It's the same thing as a "standing army". Which is like having an invitation to use it.

I personally think we need to de-mobilize. The Cold War is over. We don't need in excess of 800 military bases in countries worldwide. Then, we need to reinstitute the draft as a three year 'community service' hitch required of each and every citizen between 18 and 26 (yes, even the disabled), with NO loopholes for well-to-do. Many, if not most, would be destined for military training. All we'd really need then is an officer corps and a training corps.

Then, I think we should nationalize all armaments industries and cut all dealing to sources outside the US.

This, I presume, would mean restructuring the economy. To one which produces products and services that enrich life, rather than remove it or emiserate it.

Oh... And I want a pony, too.

al I don't think any of those kids thought they were going to be used to attack another country. Most probably thought they were going to defend the good ol U.S. of A.
MHW, a veteran

"Hard to remember a worse foreign policy blunder in our history."

Uh....Vietnam perhaps? Or, some would argue, our premature pull-out of Vietnam that lead to the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge and the subsequent murder of about 2 million Cambodians. Oh wait....my bad. That doesn't count because Bush wasn't President......

The deaths of innocent people resulting from the destabilization of Iraq are currently in the hundreds of thousands, and will no doubt surpass 2 million before things restabilize in another 20 years or so. The carnage has only just begun.

Sad to say, but on the whole they were better off with Saddam in power.

And so were we.

Always the optimist, Jack.

The number of Iraqis being killed by a combination of Saddam and the UN sanctions far out-paced anthing we have done. I agree that the post-invasion plan was crap, but Iraq was better off with Saddam? Spoken like a true 'never lived under his regime' critic.

Never died in the mayhem created by Bush, either. Look at the goofballs he's got propped up as a government. Against the insurgents, they're dead people walking the minute we leave. I suppose you think we should stay forever. Just burn another thousand American kids and a zillion bucks every year. Makes you feel good.

we currently have an all-volunteer army. No one is forcing these kids to go fight

No...but if my memory is holding true not ONE of the mailings from the military my step son received while still in High School --trying to get him to sign up-- ever mentioned the word "fight"...let alone "die" or "kill."

They were all about getting an education, and having the government help to pay for it.

Kids think they're invulnerable. The military plays on that to get them to sign up. These kids dying come from Kentucky and Southern Oregon, not Princeton.

Remember: Wars are great if you don't have to fight them. Taxes are great if you don't have to pay them. How about making the people who are gung-ho about the war to go and get shot at in Iraq? How about making those who are so gung-ho about higher taxes pay those taxes?

Frank Dufay: Way to go Frank. I see you agree with John Kerry that only the ignorant are volunteering. What a load of crap.

Read the article by Lt. Col Yinling in the Armed Forces Journal last week. Same old crap alright. This is worse than Nam, but yet it's the same. Field grade(combat tested) officers attacking Generals in military publications, Kids dying, Vets uncared for.As a vet I can shoot my mouth off on this one and only those who choose to remain ignorant will continue to support the insanity. You do not, I repeat, DO NOT, support soldiers by sending them off to die in any war, unless you are defending your country.You do not, by imposing your value system by force with them as canon fodder, that's not support. That's insanity.

if my memory is holding true not ONE of the mailings from the military my step son received while still in High School --trying to get him to sign up-- ever mentioned the word "fight"...let alone "die" or "kill."

Maybe they hope most recruits are smart enough to realize that while being in the military, those are possibilities. If they are not, then they probably had trouble graduating high school in the first place.