jb Your just too optimistic Diane. 
| Ron wrote: |
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American patriots are not knocking down the Armed Forces recruiter's doors to have a swing at Saddam or Al-Qada. Let the machines do the dirty work. We'll watch CNN to announce the game score and MSNBC to provide the play-by-play of current and future war plans with their panel of retired generals and think-tank PhD's. |
| Ron wrote: |
| I've always considered the Iraqi behaviour in the Gulf Was as puzzling. Iraqi forces easily took Kuwait without much protest from Saudi Arabia. If Saddam had any Muslim agenda beyond territorial aquisition of Kuwait he could have continued into Saudi Arabia. Instead he held a World War I style trench line defense at the border. Saddam placed mostly conscripts, not regular army in those positions.
Another puzzle is the restraint from large scale use of chemical weapons. It is well known to the US military that Saddam has no qualms about its employment, both on civillian and military targets. The Iranians and Kurds know only too well his quickness to use chemical agents. I wasn't there in the Gulf, but I've had friends who contracted the Gulf War Syndrome and more than one has told me of their NBC alarms going off and their M8 strips changing colour. One reported to me of having his position subjected to low-order burst artillery shelling with a yellowish cloud released followed by NBC alarms activated. Perhaps his forces did do some local area releases. The chemicals were certainly on the front-line ready to be used if so ordered. This dangerous fascination the American public has of quick Nintendo wars will someday have to pay a high cost in the face of a determined enemy. The American public has come to believe that war can be safe, except for an unlucky few. What would the public say of just one battle that costs over 2,500 dead and 5,000 wounded? Only a nation embued with strong resolve and determination to see a fight through to the bitter end will win such a war. It has been a long time since any nation has tried to fight the United States on its own soil. We've seen how vulnerable we are to fifth-column elements and the hieghts of fear they cause. For the martyr it is a great trade off. Lose their life but demoralize hundred of thousands to quit the fight. The anthrax had us not wanting to get any mail, snipers had us nervous and looking over shoulders suspecting anyone, everyone. Sustained, concentrated efforts like these will have tremendous effects on the government. Americans will either press for restraining the military and withdraw or green-light the President to do anything and everything to end the war swiftly no matter how much blood has to flow in the sand. American patriots are not knocking down the Armed Forces recruiter's doors to have a swing at Saddam or Al-Qada. Let the machines do the dirty work. We'll watch CNN to announce the game score and MSNBC to provide the play-by-play of current and future war plans with their panel of retired generals and think-tank PhD's. |