Short Essays and musings about family, philosophy, death.

I am a writer. Most of the time the only person who thinks I am a writer is me. I do like to share a few things that I’ve written. I love to read and so I’m constantly downloading myself. My hope is that you find these few short musings interesting.

  Iraq

  I opposed the Iraq war from the very beginning as it was built on fraud. George W f..k up, let's face it--Listened to the neocons who still are in denial. 

  We finally got out of Iraq, luckily through the bungling of Nouri al-Malikiwhose "sheft life" went way past where it ought to have been.  We lucked out. Now, a weary nation (at least those who care), are faced with what to do again in Iraq? The President has already made a decision of air strikes. On the one hand, the president has taken a courageous stance in bombing. The flip side of the coin is that he has started down the stupid road again. 

  We can't turn our backs on defenseless people. It is not in our nature.  The bombing seems to be working. We have stopped the advance of fanatics who kill indiscriminately anybody who doesn't agree with them. John McCain, that I like and has to be admired as the true authority on torture. What the f..k is going on with him, as he wants to invade most every country in the MidEast. He was a POW for God's sake and ought to be bigger than all this criticism he constant levels. He is still a sore loser I think. And Hillary, politics. Give me a break. But, with what I've read, we are dealing with murderous fanatics. Vicious fanatics like ISSI are not going away. Air strikes alone will not do it. The Iraqis have got to step up to the plate. 

  I have just reread David Halberstam's HO (HO Chi Minh). Shows our stupidly in getting involved in countries where we should have had our heads examined. HO Chi Minh had a playbook. He had the country totally behind him and had been planning for the French defeat at Dienbenphu long before it happened. Iraq was a George W War, aided by his sisters under the skin, the Neocons. Americans who care are weary of war. Our problems at home are enormous. Let's take a step backwards. We are almost universally hated and blamed for meddling. Time to wake up and smell the roses. Time to chart another course? I think so. Listening to some young State Department weanie issuing threats ain't helping the situation. Let's SHUT THE F..K UP and get smart for once!!!!!!

  EVERYBODY LOVES THE MILITARY

  These days everybody loves the military. As a Vietnam vet, I am often baffled by it. Supporting the military with an "attaboy" is one thing, Serving your country by "joining up" is another story.  Less than one percent are serving. They don't even know anybody who wears the uniform. I would like to know how many congressmen/women have served or if their children have.

  This isn't a hit on those not serving. With a volunteer Army, they can choose. What we have now is a military made up of only an extremely small segment of the American society. Most affluent parents don't want their kids to be in the military, in potentially harms way. I certainly wouldn't if I had boys. 

  When my generation came along, we had to deal with the draft. It was part of our culture. The draft ain't going to ever happen again. That train has left the station. And, we are the worst for it. Vet organizations like VFW, (Veterans of Foreign Wars) American Legion were asleep at the wheel when they (Melvin Laird/Milt Freeman) talked us into scraping the draft and now the unintended consequences are repetitive tours like the poor guy we saw on TV during Prez's  State of Union speech. 10 tours. You have got to be kidding me. 

  We applaud those like the Army Ranger that the Prez showcased a couple of speeches ago, maybe State of the Union who almost paid the ultimate sacrifice. The flip side of the coin is to acknowledge that our f..k ups contributed to his being put in harms way in the first place. It doesn't take anything away from his sacrifice, just hi-lites our stupidity. Americans who care should be incensed, if not ashamed, that we have played a part in  the sacrifices of our brave soldiers and no amount of applause will make up for our stupid decisions. 

  10 tours in Iraq/Afghanistan? How the f..k did that happen? I can tell you: a small military necessitating repetitive tours, senior commanders on the ground being stupid--strategies that have little or no chance of working. I could go on and on. Yes, we can applaud but any way you slice it, we all are complicit in the tragedy of those like the Army Ranger and his physical and spiritual wounds. God bless him. 

  HOSTAGE RESCUE

  This is a hard call. I am going to go for it around comments of Rick Steves, travel writer. Over the years, I've watched his programs on Europe. Now he has expanded to the Mid East. Good programs but he was lamenting the idea that many "Mericans" are saying, "have a good trip as opposed to Bon Voyage." In other words, we are choosing to stay home because we don't want to go to the Mideast or Mexico or anywhere that we might become hostage bait. 

  I've been to most places in the world and based on what is happening on the planet, I think we are in a spot where staying home is a legitimate option. The loss of an American hostage in Yemen is tragic even if he no doubt knew the danger. We are dealing with ruthless terrorists who have no interest in any value system that opposes their fanatical ideology even if they don't understand it. So, why should we put ourselves in danger. GOOD QUESTION.