Clusterph*#@kistan.......and the stone agers......they have game.
February 7, 2012 - 11:28am
History is always instructive to those who care to study it and learn. Yogi opined many years ago on this forum that our foray into Afghanistan would be costly and ultimately, ill advised. After all, and as I pointed out then, the same country had humbled Alexander the Great, the British Empire at it's height of power, the Russian army in the 1980's, and now......hehe......the US army after ten years. Hate to say....I told ya so. Maybe, just maybe, we should think twice about getting involved in more of this....in Persia. For the record....that won't end well either....if history is any guide. http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/06/how-the-war-was-lost/
February 7, 2012 - 7:44pm
#2
"When we decide to fight a war with a singular goal in mind - defeating the enemy - then and only then will we succeed." I agree but when did the Taliban become OUR enemy? Now that Osama bin Laden is no longer hanging out in that part of the world what is our mission? Why are we there? What do we expect to accomplish long term? I would really like to know. Enemy is such a nebulous term and at most times has its roots in political cant - I suggest that you read Thomas Hardy's The Man I Killed, if you want a good definition of what an enemy is.
February 7, 2012 - 9:00pm
#3
As a U.S citizen, the enemy is whoever our government decides to wage war against. While at war, we see the other person as someone who would kill us first should we not kill them first. It's never against the individual.
February 7, 2012 - 9:09pm
#4
"As a U.S citizen, the enemy is whoever our government decides to wage war against. While at war, we see the other person as someone who would kill us first should we not kill them first. It's never against the individual." That is a little too slick for me - I honor my government but I do not follow it blindly - and by the way, you have Hardy's meaning without having read the poem. That is what makes the poem so resonant for me - it simply reflects what we instinctively "know".
February 7, 2012 - 9:10pm
#5
Who says I never read the poem?
February 7, 2012 - 9:32pm
#6
"Who says I never read the poem?" Well if you have you are richer for it. If you read it - have you also read The Oxen - or The Darkling Thrush? Or Lizbie Browne which is my daughter's nickname - or just for fun, The Ruined Maid? This is an author who is best know for his dark and disturbing novels but I relate to his poetry more than I ever could to Tess of the d'Urbervilles or The Return of the Native. To me poetry is the essence of distilled emotion - it is the act of finding your own thought (sometimes before you knew you thought it) expressed in a way that you could never have envisioned. Forgive me, I am an "inebriate of words" and totally open at this moment to being dissed by those who do not share my joy in the English language.
February 8, 2012 - 7:41pm
#7
Who says I never read the poem? . . I do.
February 8, 2012 - 8:15pm
#8
. . I do. Are you implying that I'm not the kind to read poetry? LOL
February 8, 2012 - 8:40pm
#9
Are you implying that I'm not the kind to read poetry? LOL . |
Scene Around | |||||
It ends poorly only because we no longer go into war with the idea of winning, we prefer to see if we can win the hearts and minds of the people. As soon as we leave, those who rule with an iron fist return and take control back for themselves. When we decide to fight a war with a singular goal in mind - defeating the enemy - then and only then will we succeed.
Ham and eggs....A days work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.