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Welcome to all those looking for more letters from Iraq by Major Pain. She has been included in a new book "The Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan" compiled by Matthew Currier Burden.
Her complete letters from Iraq are listed in chronological order on this site at the left top.
Enjoy.
Well. That was something. Just saw Serenity. Just a sense of the experience. More later.
It's everything one could have hoped for and more. Well written and coherent with an opening sequence that introduces everyone with a perfect sense of character. The marvel of this movie, and of the TV series, is the crew of the Firefly. Fully formed characters, honorable with consistant world views and hidden depth.
Serenity drew me into its world. Willingly and completely. The sets are detailed and lavish; can't wait to see them again on DVD. Future Technology, subtly used, perfectly balances the gritty feel of the rim Worlds, improving even upon the look of the Series. A wonderful movie. Where actions have consequences and liberty has responsibility. Worlds of surprising delights that yet propel the story forward. Serenity seems perfectly right.
The story is a rolicking wild ride of humor and pathos, chills and thrills. A riveting, perfectly paced adventure. Will they make it? Can they make it?
Go see this movie! Serenity is the action adventure of the year.
Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon and starring the crew of the ill-fated TV series Firefly. Not to be missed.
For them's that want a rip-roaring tale of colorful characters and blazing action, nothing will eclipse Josh Whedon's Serenity. Resurrected on the Silver Screen, the richly convincing worlds first revealed in the doomed TV show Firefly, will bring Whedon's tour de force to a wider audience.
I am so happy. Don't know about it?
I will post a review when I've seen it. Which I hope will be this Monday the 26th. Can't hardly wait. Stay tuned fellow Browncoats.
Conventional Wisdom says bin Laden attacked the US certain that we would not respond in any meaningful way. He thought our history since the hostage crisis in Iran (The barracks bombing in Lebanon, the embassy bombings, the first World Trade Center bombing, etc.) showed us as unwilling or unable to move against Islamist provocation, that "popular resistance" to warfare, or so our newspapers and networks told us, would keep our troops at home. The short leash of a bribed UN would ensure it. bin Laden expected the same on 9-11.
Today in the NYT Magazine, Prof. Mark Danner describes bin Laden's reason to attack us as:
The 9/11 attacks seem to have been intended at least in part to provoke an overwhelming American response: most likely an invasion of Afghanistan, which would lead the United States, like the Soviet Union before it, into an endless, costly and politically fatal quagmire.
Well, that's a new spin on it. bin Laden didn't think that we would only respond to 9-11 in a half-hearted and ineffectual way, no, it really was part of a brilliant maneuver to pull us into Afghanistan and trap us there.
Should I mention that Prof. Danner makes no mention of the previous Conventional Wisdom of a weak and unresponsive USA? He just pretends that the "brilliant trap" theory was bin Laden's intention all along. He turns the subsequent American response and surprising bin Laden defeat (or as Prof. Danner says "In Afghanistan, bin Laden would be disappointed.") into a planned bin Laden victory.
No doubt Prof. Danner lept up after 9-11 shouting "It's a trap! Don't fall for it".
However, Prof. Danner does admit to the defeat and "decentralization" of Al Qaeda. He doesn't offer any defense to the terroist attacks to come from the now "amateur" terrorists. When it comes to a strategy to defeat the terrorists, he leaves a vacuum. He can offer nothing to our defense.
And President Bush's strategy to eliminate the terrorists recruiting centers in the Middle East by bringing to them democracy and liberty, is still the only answer we have.
As Prof. Danner concludes:
A withdrawal from Iraq, rapid or slow, with the Islamists still holding the field, will signal, as bin Laden anticipated, a failure of American will. Those who will view such a withdrawal as the critical first step in a broader retreat from the Middle East will surely be encouraged to go on the attack. That is, after all, what you do when your enemy retreats. In this new world, where what is necessary to go on the attack is not armies or training or even technology but desire and political will, we have ensured, by the way we have fought this forever war, that it is precisely these qualities our enemies have in large and growing supply.
We cannot withdraw. Only desire and political will is necessary for attack. He is right. So, on the history that democracy, liberty, and the rule of law correlate to fewer terrorists, we must change the desire and political will of the Middle East. Only this will prevent a "large and growing supply" of enemies.
This is how will we defeat terrorism.
What Zoellick said with regard to the newly signed Asian-Pacific Climate Pact and Kyoto:
Robert Zoellick, the US Deputy Secretary of State, told a press conference in Vientiane, the Laotian capital, that the partnership agreement was designed to complement Kyoto rather than replace it. "Our goal is to complement other treaties with practical solutions to problems," he said.
emphasis mine.
Someone on the Evanston IL Independence Day Parade commitee has a sense of humor. Funniest moment was the Democratic Party group, populated by crunchy students and graying boomers, displaying all the appropriate "Kyoto Rules", "Stop the War" and "Bring Home the Troop" signs. Which was followed immediately by a flotilla from the local Limo Service. Limousine Liberals anyone?
A wonderful parade all in all; though it rained for about half of it.
Amazing satelite photos. Before and after wave. Before and just before wave hits (note retreat of water from shoreline.
Now that President Bush is back in the saddle, Income Tax revision may actually come to pass.
Of course this simplification will mean a lot of investigators, accountants and staff now working for the IRS won't be needed. Firing them wouldn't be politically expediant or wise. Not to worry. Just move them to the Treasury Department, FBI and Homeland Security (maybe even the SEC) to hunt terrorists and their financiers. Keeps 'em employed in a very necessary capacity. And I know they'd be good.
Just imagine. The terrorist's wouldn't know what hit 'em.
AP reports that John Kerry called President Bush to concede.
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