Re: Hell

Actually, Pelosi is right on tack with her colleagues. Their new attack will be on the Iraqi Government, who had the nerve to take a vacation instead of trying to solve the various issues confronting them. Note also that this new attack is scheduled to officially launch just as soon as the US Congress gets back from vacation.

Of course, the US Congress won't be able to officially condemn the Iraqi Parliament for failing to pass legislation - any attempt to put the matter to a vote would result in hopeless deadlock and failure.

(Or perhaps not - if they attached a few hundred billion in pork...)

Harumpf

All due respect to Military Spouses... after all, I count a few as good friends of mine... but this kind of got my hackles up:

Bill Would Memorialize Military Spouses

When it comes to honoring the sacrifices and contributions that military spouses have made to national defense and our country, Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA) intends to make sure there is no generation gap and that no spouse is left behind.

Last month, Rep. Drake introduced H.R. 3026, the Military Spouses Memorial Act of 2007, which would "establish in our nation's Capitol a memorial commemorating the selfless sacrifice of military spouses from 1776 to the present day." The monument will be intended to recognize the strength and courage of all military spouses, including survivors, and tell their story to all generations.

I have said it for all the years my sons have been in the military and have heard the same complaint from virtually every military mom I have ever spoken with: military moms (actually, military parents) are an afterthought to the various service branches. Even the website for Noah's unit when it deployed in 2005 said... "and parents might find this site useful, too." As if when our children joined the military or married we somehow lose interest in their lives and their well-being.

Re: Sad But True

Is it really true that another 9/11 would really unite us? Sure, it's nice to point to Desert Storm as a "good" war that everybody and their mother can get behind. But beyond the exceedingly brief psychological satisfaction of a 100 hour war--what did we accomplish?

It's even more cynical to say that a "new 9/11" is needed to unite us when the type of war that unites us doesn't actually accomplish any long-lasting strategic victory.

Even our present "good war" in Afghanistan ain't exactly uniting people. I imagine that, if we weren't in Iraq, that the general public will for our continued presence in Afgh. would be at about the level that Iraq is at now.

Public will is hard to maintain. Iraq is the most recent and hence, the most comfortable focus for a flagging public will. No Iraq, it'd be Afgh. and somebody would be saying the same: that to "save America, we need another 9/11."