tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456220109410208455.post1465288131498503622..comments2023-10-23T12:57:50.366-04:00Comments on Educated Soldier: Rather Be Hawkish Than HypocritcialWhiskeyBoarderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484072959354046151noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456220109410208455.post-14033195682961348032008-07-17T08:40:00.000-04:002008-07-17T08:40:00.000-04:00Bob, Bag Blog:You know, one advantage that is grow...Bob, Bag Blog:<BR/><BR/>You know, one advantage that is growing from having a class with my so-called "Liberal Professor" is the reading of the book, "No End in Sight". I approached the book with skepticism because of an expected Leftist bias. It doesn't disappoint in that regard. However, it is eye-opening to read through the decisions made in regard to the Iraqi occupation and who made them. I am starting to wish that people now in opposition to this war WOULD read this book. In a nutshell, nearly everyone was for the war and , in fact, everything was going well initially. According to the book (and I would have to cross-check, so to speak, to confirm), fault really lands on the shoulders of L. Paul Bremer and some really boneheaded mistakes that he made.<BR/><BR/>Brian: Concerning "WhiskeyBoarder": throughout the 90's, this was the title of a line of snowboarding videos. As I enjoy whiskey and did enjoy snowboarding when I was in an area to partake in the activity, I felt it made sense to steal the title for my own use. So I did.<BR/><BR/>However, if someone is suggesting torture via whiskey consumption, I volunteer to be the first victim!WhiskeyBoarderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12484072959354046151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456220109410208455.post-17565366139120371162008-07-17T00:53:00.000-04:002008-07-17T00:53:00.000-04:00And now back off-topic, I suddenly wonder where "W...And now back off-topic, I suddenly wonder where "Whiskeyboarder" comes from. Is that like water-boarding, but with whiskey? Sounds drastic!Brian Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17895289104798325252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456220109410208455.post-16173535406572007592008-07-16T14:40:00.000-04:002008-07-16T14:40:00.000-04:00Back on topic here, your plans all sound right on,...Back on topic here, your plans all sound right on, very workable and productive. <BR/><BR/>As to the languages, you might like to pick up Esperanto on your own; as an artificial language, its rules and grammar are dead simple. A few weekends would give you enough to work with. It has several things going for it: learning it helps tremendously with learning other languages (cuts the time in half, or even less), as it provides a kind of mental grid against which the tangled patterns of other languages can be measured and comprehended. Second, you can get names of contacts and "guides" who speak it from the international associations for just about any country in the world, which opens up lots of possibilities. <BR/>I even have a Bible translated into Esperanto; very interesting!Brian Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17895289104798325252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456220109410208455.post-88414567488188289162008-07-16T09:04:00.000-04:002008-07-16T09:04:00.000-04:00I wonder if we had gone ahead and taken Saddam out...I wonder if we had gone ahead and taken Saddam out during the Gulf War how people would have reacted then. Maybe the timing was not right. I too, am amazed that the liberal crowd cries for human rights, but does not really want to do the battle for those rights.<BR/><BR/>There is an economics book called "Fooled by Randomness" where the author puts out an idea that although we study history in order to not make the same mistakes, in truth we cannot know that we are making mistakes until after we have made them. Did that make sense? I find it very interesting that we use the past to shape our decisions for the future, but each situation is so different. We won't know if our decision was right or wrong until it is history. <BR/><BR/>Isn't it great to see the light at the end of the tunnel in your academic pursuits?Bag Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01885412195900280096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4456220109410208455.post-2372160805359654592008-07-15T18:42:00.000-04:002008-07-15T18:42:00.000-04:00Hi.Regarding the reactions of your classmates:I ca...Hi.<BR/><BR/>Regarding the reactions of your classmates:<BR/><BR/>I can see why you can see that their reactions might inconsistant.<BR/><BR/>But, I can also see where they are coming from.<BR/>It comes down to evaluating the reasons behind intervention in the first place.<BR/><BR/>In Rwanda intervention to prevent a humanitarian crisis was clearly warranted, <BR/>and the slow reaction of the international community cost lives.<BR/><BR/>Iraq is a different story.<BR/>Despite suffering a brutal religeous extremist dicatorship, there was no immediate crisis. The evidence is quiet clear that the attack was clearly pbased on a flimsy pretext, and it ultimately became the cause of a humanitarian crisis. What was once the middle easts finest public health system has been destroyed, and the Iraq is now subject to a everyday violence that did not exist even under Saddams dictatorship.<BR/><BR/>There are other factors as well that would make reasonable people differ on the moral grounds or need for intervention on both cases.<BR/><BR/>Good luck for your studies.bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10442272962454853344noreply@blogger.com