Quagmire anyone?

Dude.

The war in Iraq has lasted longer than US involvement in World War II.

Not that comparisons to WWII are even mildly relevant, but it does make you think.

Comments

  1. MikeAugust 22, 2006 at 6:48 PM

    Interesting. But spinnable. You see Tom, the military involvement in the second world war was shorter, but that armed conflict occupied almost the entirity of the War on Fascism (Second World War is so 20th century.

    A better comparions would be the Vietnam conflict. Not because there are any similarities between Iraq and Vietnam, of course, but because Vietnam was arguably the longest and largest US military action the context of the War on Communism (Cold War is similarly out-of-date).

    So far, Iraq seems to be the largest and longest military action in the context of the War on Terror.

    So surely the more important point is not how long the armed conflict goes on, but how long it is in proportion to the wider war of ideas. So let's just keep up this war against terror, and the relative duration of Iraq won't be so bad, right?

    Sorry? What about all the human casualties and ruined infrastructure and whatnot in the meantime?

    Well, I'm sure Iraq will be all sorted out soon. After all, we learned how to fight ideas with bullets in Vietnam, so the lessons of that war should help us in this one, right? Right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. SnoozeAugust 22, 2006 at 10:58 PM

    If you're desperately searching for a Look-over-there-That-mess-is-even-worse kind of distraction, then look no further, Spin Doctors.

    The War on Terror: Iraq Chapter is still in chubby-cheeked infancy compared to the War on Drugs - now entering it's 38th glorious year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TomAugust 23, 2006 at 1:00 AM

    And let's not forget the cleaning-company-sponsored War On Germs...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Black Saturday

Image
Last Friday afternoon, John Brumby made what seemed like a ridiculous statement, that Saturday could be "the worst day ever in the history of the state." A combination of very high temperatures, extreme winds and bushland dried out by years of drought certainly had potential for something very nasty, but did anyone really think it would happen? There's been a lot of speculation that the reason for the staggering number of fatalities (it's currently 130 but is expected to go considerably higher) is due to the fact that people have forgotten Ash Wednesday. Not that it occurred, or that it was bad, but just how ferocious a fire can be. I was at the beach - Airey's Inlet, where folks are rightly spooked by fire (it was almost entirely destroyed in 1983). We knew it would be hot and that fire danger was extreme, but we had the fire plan in order (kinda) and spent most of the day marvelling at the ludicrous heat. With the radio on 774 listening for any mention of f...
Read more

It could be good...it really could

Image
Have you read the Phillip Pullman 'His Dark Materials' Trilogy ? If so, isn't it unreal? If not - WHAT ARE YOU THINKING - get ye to a library/book-selling emporium immediately! I'm actually serious. It may be pitched as young adult fiction (even though there are many who think this is not the case), but (at the risk of being howled down) it is honestly one of the most beautifully created fantasy worlds since the Lord of the Rings - and I don't even LIKE fantasy. This mildly hysterical outburst has been brought to you by the fact that the books have been turned into films and the first official trailer for the first film "The Golden Compass" has JUST been released. Quietly - I'm excited. Really very excited. Some may even say pumped. Now I try to keep these things a little under wraps. The last film I got this excited about was Happy Feet and that let me down in any number of ways, but this one has real promise. Starring an unknown young actor ...
Read more

The spirit of the game

Image
Australia's extraordinary last minute victory in the second test was one of those great moments that only test cricket can deliver. After five days of high quality cricket it all came down to the last few overs. With long shadows cast by the fielding team grouped impossibly tightly around the batsman, the rambling, drunken chants of the fans too boozed to notice the tension, and every ball carrying the threat or promise of defeat, it was an hour or two of test cricket at its best. Except. Fucken Ricky Ponting. With all the grace of a petulant 12 year old, the captain of the Australian cricket team, intimidated, complained and bitched and moaned his way through the entire final day. With Michael Clarke's third wicket in one over delivering the seemingly impossible, Ricky Ponting led the celebrations, thrusting his pelvis towards the Indian dressing room before leaping around with his team mates, oblivious to the shattered Anil Kumble whose stoic innings had come to nothing a...
Read more