SamSaid!

WITHDRAWAL

     Nowadays, the intelligentsia and the liberal media are pouncing on the idea of setting a withdrawal date from Iraq. The Iraqis now have a government (of sorts) and are acquiring the strength to handle their own affairs  — notwithstanding the “insurgents” who are hell bent on creating a civil war and and killing off democracy in the middle east. It is a fact that we are incurring casualties  — not a foreign event in a war. And so the liberals say. “enough is enough” –  it is time to get out and let the Iraqis fend for themselves. Translated, that means “cut and run” just as the terrorists predicted we would do.

     It we set a withdrawal date, we also set a date for the terrorists  — whether they be from Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, or all of the above. When we set a date, they make their plans and patiently wait until we bail out and hand the conflict over to the Iraqis  –  and them. What kind of birdbrains would set a date to guarantee the failure of middle east democracy, and vitually guarantee a civil war in Iraq? Sure, it is OK to be a pacifist and a critic of the Iraqi War, but that is a far cry from insuring defeat by announcing a cut off (withdrawal )date. Even if we were to decide upon a withdrawal date, anyone with an IQ over 20 would understand that it would be suicidal to announce it. 

     Here is Senator Joe Biden –  looking for ways to get his mugshot on TV screens as a way to bolster his recently announced Presidential ambitions. So now he poses as the great guru on foreign policy, notwithstanding the effect on our troops in the field, or our posture internationally. As a convicted plagiarist, he deserves contempt, not prime time coverage on Meet the Press.

GITMO

     The big media people and others on the left side of the political spectrum are bound and determined to make the Guantanamo military prison a big issue and paint the US Army as the bad guys. Here we have a group  –  200-300 raghead terrorists who are motivated to kill Americans, and all we hear about is so-called prisoner abuse. The remedy?? Close Gitmo.

    For sure, Gitmo has been the focal point of world attention for 3+ years. If there is one Military prison in the world where high level attention is focused, it is Gitmo. The people running the prison KNOW that their every move will be scrutinized by the hostile press – -  every day. They KNOW they have to be extra special in handling the prisoners  — no matter what the provocation. They KNOW that the Koran  — right or wrong  — is a hot button issue.  And with military discipline, they guards explicitly know what they can do and what they can't do. And every little bit of questionable conduct is magnified 100 times (New York Times?)

     Conceded, there are people who for various motives or beliefs oppose the Iraqi War. But it stretches credulity to exaggerate issues just to buttress that belief. They are firmly committed to the idea that anything to discredit George Bush is OK. Fair game for them is to discredit the President and ignore the positive aspects of the newly founded Iraqi nation. And in doing all this, they jump on so-called prisoner abuse at Guantanamo to condemn the President, the Army,  the Defense Department, the Soldiers, —  and casually ignore suicide bombings and the slaughter of civilians by the cohorts of the Gitmo captives.  By my thinking, something is badly remiss here.

     I just don't buy the idea that these Gitmo prisoners were just innocent souls who were swept off the streets and labelled “terrorists”. They have no uniforms, they represent no State, and they have no compunction in killing civilians. I would have no problem about closing Guantanamo if they would take all the prisoners, put them on a boat, and then sink it somewhere in the Persian Gulf.

    Decapitating captives is just one of those unfortunate incidents that happen in a war. Ho-hum.  But soiling the Koran?? Now there is a REAL issue. Everybody got that??

CUTTING COMMENTS

     I like sandwiches. At midday, I enoy looking over the luncheon menus to ponder over the sandwich selections. But if there is one thing that peeves me, it is the all too common occasion when a sandwich is not quite cut in two pieces. For some reason, the chef, cook, waitress or whomever manages to cut thru 98% of the sandwich, but leaves a little strand of bread uncut. So,  I pick up 1/2 of the sandwich ready for the first big bite and then see a mess on my plate where the 2nd half of the sandwich has come apart because of that little 2% that was uncut.

     It is not rocket science to cut a sandwich in two. In most cases the cut is along the diagonal of the bread, but even so, a math major is not required. The other day, our golf group was having lunch, and we ordered our sandwiches of choice. Not uncommon. When mine was served, I almost automatically picked up a knife and cut thru my sandwich where it had already been cut  –  end to end. When a buddy asked what I was doing, I told him about my concern over a sandwich not quite served in two sections  — one that had been cleanly cut all the way from one end to the other. He laughed  — and then picked up half of his sandwich only to see the second half become a badly arranged messy salad on his plate. That  last little connecting strand of bread got him. I laughed  — he didn't. 

     After he calmed down, I suggested that he avoid the problem by ordering a salad in the first place.