SamSaid!

TRAVEL

     I play golf with a remarkable old bird who passed his 87th birthday earlier this year. He is a good ole farm boy from the midwest who joined the Air Corps in WWI and flew an airplane of some kind. I don't know if he was shot at or not. But at his age he is a remarkable specimen and has a beautiful golf swing. Big arc on the backswing and a nice swing thru the ball. Right down the middle. Of course, aging has robbed him of some of his former distance, but he still has that swing that many hackers would kill for. I can relate to that. I can keep the ball in play, but not as the result of a picturesque swing. Gerry has scored under his age twice this year. A lot of the old guys are envious.

      We played together last week and both shot in the 80s. Very pleasant day. Afterwards, we enjoyed a glass or two of iced tea, and talked about family matters. He said he would be traveling for a week or so  –   flying out of Oakland on 9/11 to visit friends and family in Alaska. I told him that my wife and I would be flying out of SFO on Wed 9/11 on a trip back east to visit friends and family — returning via Salt Lake City. Of course that led to conversation about flying on 9/11.

     Gerry said that he had been flying in airplanes for over 50 years and wasn't going to vegetate in front of the TV in his game room because of a bunch of #$*@#X&# ragheads trying to terrorize the country. He said, “At our age, my wife and I  may not have that many more chances to visit friends and family…..we're going!!  I said, “Gerry”, we'll be back in two weeks…. I'll see you one the first tee.

     We waved at each other and went home to pack.

BIG TIME DECISION

     It is always tough to face a dilimna  —-   what to do? I recall that in the street language of my youth a tough choice was described as being caught between “a rock and a hard spot”. At least phonetically, we now seem to be caught between “Iraq and a hard spot”. 

     It is interesting to see the “experts” wiggle, squirm, twist and turn  –  trying to find a save haven or to get off the hook. Isn't it amusing to see how raptors turn into chicken hawks?  Those who say ….”we need more proof” …  will never get enough proof. They really don't want irrefutable proof because that places them between Iraq and a hard spot.  There really isn't much question about Saddam's track record, and there is really only one key question  –  “Can we afford to wait?” Or in contemplating military action, ”What if we do?  –  or more importantly, “What if we don't?”

    Afghanistan is a mess, and will be a bit chaotic for a while. The War Lords have re-surfaced and the ethnic/religious factions will no doubt make life tough for the new government. I'll be glad when our guys are out of there, but that won't happen unless the Europeans and Turks accept the full on site responsibility to be sure the new government doesn't fail. It will likely take 10 years or more. But in Afghanistan, messy as it is, we acted. Now,  back to Saddam's Iraqis.

    “Can we afford to wait?” For 11 years all kinds of non-military actions have been directed at Saddam –  yet he goes along his merry way. The events of 9/11 show him that the US is vulnerable and he feels confident that the rest of the world will not fight our battle. Yes, I guess we could wait. But wait for what? What leads us to think that his game plans will change? 

     It is a big decision to commit our forces to war, knowing full well that Americans will be killed. None of us relish that thought. But can we evade it?  Can we wait? When we wait, we place the fate of some (maybe many) of our countryment in Saddam's  hands. That is not a very reassuring thought.