What Can I Get For Five Dollars?

It is too early to tell. However, there is no doubt that the military genius in the White House has made a serious miscalculation. I think they were fooled by the events in Afghanistan. What they seemed to forget was we did very little of the combat there. Further, Afghanistan and Iraq are two very different, figuratively speaking, animals. Am I worried yes very worried.

Well, if Iraq is a harder nut to crack than Afghanistan we are in trouble.

Is there any question? That should have been obvious.

Yeah, my point being that Afghanistan is in shambles, after all that effort and money spent, not to mention the famous hot Bush rhetoric.

You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time. But then there comes a time when all of the people simply say "#'@*^"£><%$&$$" off and give peace a chance

I do not think Iraq will be a Vietnam. The war will not last long enough for the domestic war-weariness to become strong enough to force acknowlegement.

I almost wish I believed you were right, Craven.

For the anti-war crowd me being right is a bad thing and a good thing. Bad because it means the war will soon be over and the protests will stop and the opposition to the war will barely register. Good because the war will be swift.

I'm not talking post war occupation, just the war.

How long did the Soviets get bogged down in Afghanistan again?

Craven - I want you to be right, but I work with someone who is a trained militarian tactician, as well as a military historian on the other side of me. They are both pro-war, pro-American and not at all encouraged by the poor (by their definitions) strategy they see being used by the Americans. Each time they say 'the only thing they could do wrong now is ... ', it's what happens about 24 - 36 hours later. It's quite discouraging. I want it over.

I'm probably not as knowlegable as the people you mention but I have to disagree with them. I see many errors in the military strategy ("if you only commit 1,000,000 errors in a war you did well") but none that makes me think that this will be a long war. But my opinion can change when the troops enter Baghdad.

...And for how long did we (the U.S. after the French) get bogged down in Vietnam after thinking that we were fighting a vastly inferior force. Craven, I wish I could share in your optimism but I can't. If this turns into urban warfare, block by block or street by street in Baghdad and Basra, we will lose.

I'm not saying it will be quick because of the mismatch. It's the advancements in warefare that make the difference IMO.

And like I said, in Baghdad my opinion will be reevaluated. But I expect Basra to be easy. I'm not privy to US war strategy but I don't think urban warfare is necessary. A seige would take time but could preclude that option. But in any case, as I have stated, Baghdad is where I look to see how this will go.

Oh Craven, I hope you're right about the duration, because otherwise it will mean heavier casualties.

I don't see much resemblance between this and Viet Nam. The history is vastly different, and so are the circumstances. Even the timing and intensity of the protests are different. And apparently trouble is already brewing between Rumsfeld and the Pentagon about strategy. Another thing that's different is that this is already known as Bush's war, and many people are careful to make the distinction between being anti-American and anti-Bush.

Bi-P ---today I got, for five dollars, a hunk of Spanish cheese called drunken goat. Really good. Was five dollars a pound in my local specialty market, and twelve dollars a pound in Whole Foods.

A cup of coffee and a donut - in London.