That point of view is also widespread within the US military.

And so according to all that honor integrity patriotism stuff, these guys will just have to resign if things change. I'm sure they will have no trouble finding other employment.

Thank God their integrity forbids them from subverting policies... wait a minut... hold the horses! How did they get there in the first place? Those didn't used to be the policies, and that would cover most of their career.

Please don't try to tell me, anyone that you won't find the same devotion to principle in the military you will find anywhere else. You can decide for yourself how much that is.

Yup. What's killing me is, about this time, Army all strained and stuff, equipment well sanded, everybody who's got an out has gone, all that, you know better than me- but this is about the time a large contingent, large, of the forces can get trapped, and have to be relieved. While I'm sure most would be satisfied to let Americans leave if they thought they were leaving. It's not beyond this administration, and by extension, the officers in charge (who must honestly believe in what they are doing, or else they would resign, right) to use troops as bait.

I remember when the US invasion was staged in Kuwait. It was like being in an insane asylum. Saddam was supposed to have WMDs and God only knows what method of deliviering them, hell donkeys would have worked, (suicide donkeys?) and the Army was staging in a big melee of cargo and men.

I knew right then there were no WMDs, none. Either that or...

The poltical side was so intoxicating because his military performance other than being a stalwart POW, was quite undistinguished

How can you say that? Sheesh. John McCain was one of the last great "wet start" jet pilots! (Mainly cause they took that control away from the pilot) To wet start a jet, you flood it with fuel before ignition. Hit the ignition, and Whoosh! a huge and smoky flame belches from the tail! See, on a carrier, with planes very close, it gives the guy behind you a little "wake-up call" and it gives you a good laugh, just before takeoff. Sometimes, it "cooks off" unstable bombs, but since those 1000lb bombs shouldn't be there anyway (they're unstable, and were proscribed) when a fire results in the loss of 100 lives on the USS Forrestal, it's in everybody's interest to cover it up.

And you say his career was just average! How many "wet start" pilots do you know. He might be the last of the breed!

Beyond that, concentrating on a narrow task like simply getting the guys who did 9-11

Or even better, for a start, finding out exactly what happened!

"Hello, this is Norad. Today is Sept.11, 2001. All our offices are closed today for a system wide test. Please call back tomorrow. If you know the extension of the party you wish to reach, you may dial it now.You will bve connected with their voicemail. We will return your call as quickly as possible. Your call is important to us. Dial one for...."

So many interesting things. Especially that Harpers article.

So I'm gonna come to the conclusion that if Hillary or Obama is elected, they will have to move fast, in the early part of their... you know, that "hundred days" thing, if they are gonna extricate us.

If they don't move fast and early, it'll just be friedman after friedman again, or worse.

And whatever they say in the campaign, it doesn't change that reality; they need to move hard and fast if they're going to avoid getting trapped.

You might just as well give in to pacifism.

LWM

Oh L, you big kidder. We could dial it back a hell of a long way and still not come anywhere near pacifism.

We could start by taking war more seriously than opening a chain of fried-chicken stands.

But it only works when everyone is doing it.

It would, admittedly work better that way, but a desire not to go to war would be very effective, when wielded by the most powerful nation on earth.

You have articulated this undulating ungulate's main objection to military service. I wasn't joining no standing army! I wanna sit down once in a while!

Hasn't there been a "sitting -war" (sitzenkrieg) before?

I'm for a big sitting army. One that won't lie down on the job.

Do they still have USO shows with comedians?

could do USO shows! We'd be just like Wallis and Davis in "Holiday in Vermont" (White Christmas) can't you just see us:

Sisters, sisters

we were always such devoted sisters!

Never need to have a chaperone, no sir...

We'll have to compare calves to see who can play the Danny Kaye role. He was a dancer, you know.

I was thinking of "undulating" more in the sense of shimmying, like my sister Kate. Perhaps treading a few adagio measures of the Camel Walk, as we used to do in college days. In my day, the girls checked their corsets at the door. Oh those were heady college days! I had Bright's Disease, but he had mine, so it all worked out. Ah, dear Old Peachpit College! Even now, I hear my alma mater's moving melody "Peachpit, Mother of Men" Or that inspiring Greek frieze (which we thought was some kind of ouzo based desert drink) which graced the Administration Building, which when finally translated gave us the words we have engraved upon our escutcheon: "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It!"

Let me leave you with the tantamount conclusion an inexpensive crassical education gave me: Whatever you do, don't engrave nothin' on you escutcheon. It hurts worse than a tattoo!

Night all, and many thanks.