Hiya

Here I am again (wave). Just popping in for another brief update.

Not too much happening now, or at least that's how it seems as I realize I have to pry myself from the G4 & get my ass home. I have a 10:30 AM advisement meeting with Mr. Fittipaldi, the head of the music area (yes, we're too small to have our own department). If I don't get at least 6 hours of sleep I'll be too tired to peel myself out of bed in the morning & I'll be useless all day long, so I can't dilly-dally around too long.

So the war's on. In times like these I really should be posting more so I can look back on all this as it happened.. kind of watching history unfold, or at least my perception of it. Well, "Operation Iraqi Freedom" (stupid fucking name for a war) has begun, and the first 3-4 days of it weren't too awful, but I suppose it was too easy. At least the head honchos knew it'd slow down, and it's begun to. US & British military have run into the first real Iraqi resistance, and they're actually fighting. So much for hopes that the rag-heads would knuckle under & let us steam-roll over them. This is going to be a real ground war, as opposed to the 91 Gulf war, which was little more than air-strikes. As infantry and armor units get farther into Iraq, casualties will mount. It's been a long time since we've had an actual war on our hands, and there's already a strong peace movement... I wonder how much carnage Americans are willing to see their military go through, as there's potential for quite a bit. If this isn't wrapped up by the time they get to Baghdad, things could get very messy. Urban combat is likely to inflict heavy casualties on our forces, and neither the Army nor Marines have seen significant street-fighting since the battle for Hue, in Vietnam. Unless you count the ass-stomping they were handed in Mogadishu. In Baghdad, it could be door-to-door fighting, with little air support, as any towel-head with a RPG or shoulder-fired missile launcher could down choppers. Every Iraqi that can carry a sling-shot or pitch-fork may be waiting behind any given closed door.

I have a suggestion about this, but I'm sure it'd be disregarded. However, I'll enlighten you on how I think capturing Baghdad should be handled: lay siege to it. Do it the old-fashioned way too, make it brutal. Surround the city, cut off all supply routes, and no UN humanitarian aid air-drops either. Then stock up the artillery batteries & commence shelling the hell out of them day & night, non-stop. Level the whole city, leaving nothing taller than a milk-crate. Make them hunker in bomb-holes, living in their own waste, keep them awake all day & night, and make them eat their dogs; starve them out. eventually, they'll either give up or die. Either way, it was effective for millenia & it'd still work.

Unfortunately, our concern for our fellow man necessitates that we take care of him while trying to kill him. For ages generals have known that war isn't nice. It's brutal, evil and barbaric, and there's little sense in trying to make it otherwise. I've studied the US Civil War, and the famous generals in that conflict, Grant, Lee, Sherman, etc... all knew that war was terrible, and that the more unpleasant it is for your adversary & their (supposedly) supporting civilian population, the quicker it's likely to end.

It's a good sign, perhaps, that we've grown so ill-humoured towards war that we try to pacify it, and are repulsed at the idea of much death in battle, both in our military & in civilian population. However, war is what it is, and in a war alot of people die. If it's that distasteful, perhaps we ought to look for a more humane way to solve our problems. War is the ultimate of inhumane acts, but if we've decided to start one, I think we shouldn't try to sugar-coat it.

In more happy, mundane news, school is plugging along still, and I'm beginning to get scared about the Fredonia audtion. Maybe I was last time, in which case I'm still scared.

Upon Tatiana's invitation, I attended a sunday service at her church, and it was looong. My poor attention span will be seeking revenge on me for the rest of my life if I were ever to convert. These people really don't screw around when it comes to worship. Coming from the atheist point of view, it's alot to handle, as I've spent the last several years doing what I feel like & answering to no one, and rather enjoying it. I've always had a distaste for authority, and church represents the ultimate authority. We shall see how this plays out over time, I suppose.

Oh, and I got my car mired in the mud at church too. Thankfully it wasn't hard to extricate with some help, but it still wasn't altogether pleasing.

That's about it... I'll never get to bed in time if I keep ranting on & on.

Oh yeah, and my girl-friend is wicked cool! She sarcastically suggested I write about that in the ol' blog, so there it is. And she is the best, so why not.

Let's see if I can try to post more often & spout off about the war some more... stay tuned!