The Changing Face of War- The Fourth Generation

MEMORIES ...
This stirs memories of other wars, other times, other places. The great Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) wrote in his seminal work, "On War": "The responsibility of a soldier is to kill the enemy; it is his duty to die."

Why is no one talking about the unempty body bags sure to come home? In one recent war, this was the experience of our family - one of our best and brightest. It is with us every day of our lives. I keep looking at the Dept. of Defense figures, trying to calculate the numbers. The best I could come up with is about .003 to .005 percent of the mobilized force. (One is too many!)

The columnist, Adreana Huffington (sp.?), mentioned the existence of a Pentagon computer program that gave the probable numbers. Morbid? Undoubtedly. A reality? Definitely.

Thanks for listening. This has been on my mind for some time recently.

There will be wars and rumors of wars until the end of time. The most we can hope for is that they will be justified ... in the opinion of the largest majority.

Interesting Phoenix and speaking of body bags I wonder if they will have thousands of cermonies at Dover AFB in this coming war. This treatment was not possible in prior conflicts because of the large number dead.

The last few hit and run encounters our nation arrtibuted much pomp and circumstance to honor those killed in battle. This was possible because there were so few dead. This time around I suspect their will thousands as in Vietnam as well as more violence within the US.

I think a lot of people believe what the administration has been hinting - that this will be a quick, in and out, just war. They keep touting Desert Storm. But who believes Saddam will fight another war in the desert?

I honestly don't think people have yet considered all the children all the civilians, all the Americans who will be casualties. And all for what?

This is a war that hasn't even been declared, that most people in the world are against... I just can't fathom it.

I can't believe its gone this far and they might get away with it. Did you ever picture battles in downtown Baghdad? I hope they have information that Iraqis will give up easily if Saddam is deposed, but god that could be very ugly. Don't you bet the media would be excluded from those operations.

TIP OF THE ICEBERG . . .
A word to say, "Thank you to the powers that be here at Able2Know for providing us with a place to vent our feelings!" Not only about this subject, but many others as well.

The deliberation at hand is but the tip of the iceberg . . . that is, regarding a war with Iraq. Another item of small discussion is the many factions within that country. At least 10 will be fighting for control. Besides the Kurds, the majority Muslim group - who are NOT presently in power - will be a serious entity to deal with. For anyone interested, you can find this information on the Internet or in various periodicals.

In addition, there is little discourse concerning previous attempts at nation-building in Iraq. The last country to try was England. This week's Time Magazine writes, "Winston Churchill, a superhawk hero of the 20th century, ran the occupation, saw the futility of it and favored retreat. 'We are paying 8 millions a year,' he wrote his Prime Minister David Lloyd George, in 1922, 'for the privilege of living on an ungrateful volcano.' "

Another point seemingly little discussed is the proven edict, "People get the kind of government they deserve; you cannot GIVE a form of governance to anyone . . . including a democratic regime."

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A comment concerning the link provided by Phoenix: Only after WWII did the facts become known that at least no later than the early 1920's the German Generals were preparing for "the next war"!

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Again, thanks for letting me have a say here. And, please, respond if you wish.