I mentioned in my last rant Christiane Amanpour and how easily she swallowed the “live and historic” speech by Saddam Hussein broadcast on Iraqi TV last week. Since then, I’ve thought she was one of the worst journalists working the war. But today my opinion changed. Peter Arnett, reporter for NBC News and MSNBC, gave an interview to Iraqi TV that aired today stating that the American war plan had failed. He said, “Clearly, the American war plans misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces” (Source). The war plans didn’t underestimate the ferocity of the Iraqi soldiers. After all, President Bush, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, and General Franks all warned of a possible long fight and tough battle to liberate Iraq. If anyone underestimated the Iraqi forces, it was the American media. President Bush has been on television and radio for months telling the American people to be prepared for American casualties. Reporters on FoxNews, MSNBC and CNN have been the ones to say this will be a short war, that Iraq would be overrun within a week or two. Military commanders were well prepared for this battle. They knew it was going to be a fight. It was going to be a fight from town to town and building to building. Did commanders and soldiers expect Iraqi soldiers to “cheat” in this war by flying a white flag of surrender only to fire on and kill collation forces? Maybe, maybe not. But I’m sure they didn’t cross the idea off the list of possible Iraqi tactics. Suicide attacks were spoken of before war broke out, so clearly that was on the minds of commanders as well. (If you weren’t aware, there are rules to war. The most recent of the Geneva Conventions, the Fourth Geneva Convention, lays out rules for, among other subjects, the treatment of Prisoners of War. You can peruse a copy of the Fourth Geneva Convention Here.)
This isn’t a war to take an army out of a country they occupied like in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. This is a war to remove a tyrannical government from power. We can compare this (somewhat) to the American Civil War. This time, we have to take the entire country, just like the Union forces had to conquer all of the Confederate states in the Civil War in order to end that war. The American Civil War lasted more than four years. While I doubt that Operation Iraqi Freedom will take even ¼ of that time, we still have to gain control of an area the size of California, and that will take time and cost lives.
“Now they are trying to write another war plan” said Peter Arnett in his interview. “The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance” Arnett claimed (Source). The war plan has not failed. No war plan is followed exactly once a war begins. It is not because of fierce Iraqi resistance. All wars are completely chaotic, but it is the ability to quickly adapt to the current situation that creates a superior army. And the United States by far has the most superior army in the world. Stop your anti-American propaganda machine Peter Arnett, you are costing American and collation lives. Report what you are seeing as you sit in Baghdad rather than rallying a force against our troops fighting to protect your right to dissent. Mr. Arnett, please heed this advice from Abraham Lincoln, “The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.”
War has been raging now for more than a week and I have yet to mention it in this column. Perhaps it’s because I’ve talked about the situation more than enough prior to the start of military action last week and felt there was little else to say on the topic. But now, regardless of your personal thoughts about the war itself, I think there is one thing we can all agree on, the hope that this is a short war with as few casualties as possible on both sides. With Iraq executing collation POWs and doing God knows what to those they didn’t execute, we now see just one of the reasons the current Iraqi regime must be toppled. Our soldiers have been wounded and killed by the unscrupulous tactics of the Iraqi soldiers. Attacking our troops while dressed as civilians, faking surrender, and hiding behind children is a common occurrence in Iraq today. Regrettably, we will loose more of our finest people in the upcoming weeks and months of war. I have many friends that went in to the military after high school. I mentioned a few of them in my December 8th rant. I don’t know for sure if any of them are in the region today, but I would imagine I know at least a few soldiers serving in the Middle East. Once again to you, and everyone serving today, I say from the bottom of my heart, “Thank You.”
Because of the reports of Iraq executing our POWs, there are some people suggesting that we should exact retribution on the Iraqi POWs that we hold by executing some of them. I think this is the sickest idea I’ve ever heard of. Most of the POWs we hold today are regular army draftees that surrendered before they took a shot. They have families that they were just trying to protect by going in to the Iraqi army. More reports coming from Iraq today are saying that Iraqi “elite” forces are going into homes and telling the men of the house to either join the army, or their families will be killed. As a liberating force, we must show that we do not and will not use these illegal and immoral tactics that the Iraqi forces use. The idea of our soldiers being executed after surrendering is heartbreaking, but executing the Iraqi POWs that we hold is not the answer.
And what about the coverage of the war? Personally, I tend to flip around, but mostly watch FoxNews. The other night, the 24 hour news networks broadcast live a speech from Iraqi TV that was deemed as a “live and historic” speech by Saddam Hussein. He mentioned a few cities in southern Iraq and gave the standard “repel the invaders” and “death to the infidels” lines in that speech. Immediately following the broadcast that I watched on CNN, Christiane Amanpour, who I now believe is the most gullible person living today, said of the speech it must have been live. She thought because Saddam mentioned Umm Qasr and Basra that it must be a current speech. She failed to realize that if any idiot looked at a map of Iraq, it’s quite clear that we would have to go through Umm Qasr and Basra in order to take control of Iraq. Umm Qasr is also the most important port in Iraq (since it’s one of the very few). Of course if we hope to bring in humanitarian aid to Iraq, it is going to come in by ship, and thus come in through Umm Qasr. Plus, that was the day after the first American POWs were taken, and, had this been a live speech, Saddam failed to take advantage of an obvious propaganda opportunity. Either Amanpour is the least intelligent person in broadcast journalism today, or she is an opponent of this war and reflects in her reporting that bias. If she isn’t just gullible, she is purposefully trying to play down any possible allied victory in this war by swallowing and repeating any “facts” presented by the state-run “Iraqi-TV.”
I urge all of you to show your thanks to our troops by going to this site and signing the “thank you note” to our troops. Show your support for our troops by flying a flag. If you see a veteran or a current soldier, tell them “thank you.” When you see a blue star hanging in a window, remember that star represents someone fighting today. If you see a gold star in a window, say a short prayer for that soldier that was lost and for their family. This is a valid war. This is a worthy battle. The ability to speak out against one’s government if you disagree with them should be a God given right without fear of reprisal on you or your family. The pursuit of a life full of prosperity and joy should be available to everyone in this world. Bowing down to tyrants should never be an option. To those of you that never wanted this war and wanted to “talk” with Saddam, I quote Winston Churchill, “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”
Well, it has been ten days since I’ve put anything up on my rants column. I already put up a basic overview of the wonderful tour the Gold Star Band got back from last Wednesday, but I think I’ll discuss some of the little things that went on during the tour in this entry. First, I have to complain about the little !@#$ !@#$ kids at Glendive, MT. I know that not every kid in a high school is going to be excited to hear a concert band from North Dakota State University, but for God’s sake, don’t snap your !#@ing gum during a concert! The talking never stopped, the gum snapping never ceased, and a bunch of kid’s talking baby dolls went off in the concert and they just sat there like !@#holes and didn’t leave the room. Dr. O always ended the concerts by inviting those in attendance to visit NDSU, but I’d like to rescind that invitation. We don’t want people like you in our nice little corner of North Dakota. There are enough morons around here the way it is, we don’t need you adding to the stupidity factor. Fortunately, that was really the only major negative aspect of the tour, the only thing that really got on my nerves. To me, it felt like a very relaxed tour. Load the bus at 7:30 every morning, leave by 8. Play a concert here and there. The rest of the time was on the bus watching movies or talking with friends. Plus, the video gaming in South Dakota was pretty fun. I was up about $35 just on the gaming side of things for the week. Unfortunately, Deadwood may not have been the best choice for a college band to stop at for two hours since most people were under 21 and most of Deadwood is one big casino. But I had a great time there (three ‘Four of a Kind’ hands in a matter of a couple of minutes on a quarter machine will tend to do that to someone). Our trip from Sidney, MT to Hazen, ND was rather frightening. With icy roads and jackknifed semi trucks strewn about, the trip was slow going to say the least. Fortunately we did make it through, heeding the advice of the Sheriff’s Deputy of “You can try it.” We did try it, and made it going about 20-25 miles per hour for some distance. We also do something called “Tour Buddy Gifts.” If you have no idea what that might be, before tour, everyone draws a name out of a hat and that is their tour buddy. You’re supposed to get them little things along the way. I didn’t do much for my tour buddy and I felt bad about it, so I wrote a little poem for her on the way home and gave her a “Free 20oz Dew” pop bottle cap I had. Here’s the text of the poem:
My Tour Buddy Gifts May Have Been Few And Far Between On This Trip,
But Alas, We Are Now Going Home And Of My Pop I Will Take A Sip, AHHHHH!!
Yeah, The Bottle From Wall Drug As A Gift Was Quite Bad,
But Had I Given It To Jessy He Would’ve Just Yelled “SAD!!!”
The Bear Was From Mt. Rushmore, Try And Remember That,
And I Think That Was A Better Gift Than A Kid’s Little Cowboy Hat,
Your Final Gift Now Is A Soda Bottle Top,
True, It May Suck, But You Get A Free Pop,
Now I’ll Bet You’re Wondering Who Your Tour Buddy Was This Year,
And Since We’re On The Bus Ride Home And The End Is Near,
One Thing Is For Certain, My Name Is Not Tom,
But Perhaps This Will Reveal My Idendity: Please Visit Mikelehmann.com.
From my tour buddy I got tourist information and a plastic .44 Magnum. He felt bad though, so he said he’d take me out to Smokey’s sometime. I don’t think there’s too much more for me to write here that I didn’t already put up on my Tour 2003 pages. So enjoy the online tour and keep our troops in your thoughts and pray for a short war in Iraq. Good Night.
Due to the French position in regards to the Iraq situation, many in this country are calling for a boycott of French goods. In addition, many people are beginning to rebel against French Fries and French Toast and any other reference to France in this country. In the US House this week, cafeterias changed the menu item of “French Fries” to “Freedom Fries.” Here’s my suggestion, instead of “Freedom Fries,” let’s thank our allies in Britain (Mostly just Tony Blair, but hey, who’s counting?) by calling them “Chips” like they do in Britain. If we’re going to go through a cultural change anyway, why not get closer to our friends in Britain?
I also want to say something about PM Tony Blair. While I disagree with much of his basic political philosophy since he’s a Labor Party member, you have to admire his steadfastness against those in his own party who are against his policy on Iraq. With his popularity ratings plunging especially in his own party, he has stood by his belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrannical dictator that needs to be eliminated immediately. He is a great example, good or bad, of someone so committed to a cause that politics inside his own party are not affecting his decision making. Especially when you consider that this single issue could well cost him his Prime Minister position. (Go study up on your British Political System to find out how the Prime Minister is selected.)
One last thing, I just thought I’d remind you that I’m going out of town tomorrow for a few days with the Gold Star Band. We’re coming back on Wednesday, and if you’d like, you can keep up with tour stuffs at The Tour 2003 Home Page. So Happy Birthday to Melissa on Saturday, Happy St. Patrick’s Day to All on Monday, and I’ll talk to all of you again in about a week!
It’s been nearly a week since I last ranted so I figured I better put something up tonight. I don’t have too much to complain about though. I could talk about Iraq again, but I think I’ve beaten that to death. Besides, any evidence I put forth isn’t going to change anyone’s mind. Although I am starting to believe we shouldn’t attack Iraq right now. Why attack Iraq when France is just sitting there? We could invade from Spain, they’re on our side. I was going to complain that the State Senate shot down a 2am bar closing time in this state, but I don’t really care all that much. The only problem I have with it is the reasoning for voting it down. They based their votes on what might happen, even though the detractors didn’t show any hard evidence that what could happen would happen. But then again, this is North Dakota, and I don’t expect those in state government to do anything that would benefit 20-somethings in this state. I could complain about Governor John Hoven again. But he hasn’t done anything this week that’s really ticked me off. Although, I was put in a tough spot this week. It was reported that Ed Schultz has been asked to run for Governor by the Democrats in the state. Ed Schultz is the biggest moron in the state, more so than John Hoven. I don’t want to vote for Hoven again, but there is no way I want to see Schultz in there either. He’s a curse word in the marching band for crying out loud. (“Aw, Schultz!”) It’s looking more and more like I’m going to be forced to run for Governor. (Would you vote for me? I’ll bet my mom would.)
Oh, here’s something not all of you know. I was asked to do this ranting stuff for a local website that is set to launch in April. I got a call about a month and a half ago from one of the guys that is going to be running My Liquor License.com asking me to write for the site. They want me to delve into the politics of being a young person in North Dakota, and what the state should do to keep us here. The “My Liquor License” business itself is a buy one get one free drink card for local bars. They want the website to become a local portal for people to go and get information about what’s going on locally. From what they told me, in about a month you’ll be hearing “My Liquor License” on the radio endlessly. Which is good for me, because maybe more people will read what I have to say, and I can get everyone to stop wearing those stupid snowmobile jackets!!!!!
On a closing note, I’m going on tour with the NDSU Gold Star Concert Band later this week, so I can just about guarantee there won’t be any updates from Friday, March 14 through about Wednesday, March 19. ( But you never know, I may find a computer and some free time somewhere, and then I’ll do an update.) If I get around to it, I should be able to do updates on my site all week until Friday. Finally, if any of you know my sister Melissa, be sure to wish her a happy 24th birthday next Saturday, March 15. Happy Birthday, eh!
Last Saturday night was perhaps the biggest night of this college basketball season for fans of NDSU, for we hosted our hated rivals from UND. It was a very enjoyable night. The Bison women’s team came back from a 17 point deficit in the second half and beat the Sioux in overtime. The men’s game also went into overtime but the Sioux ended up winning. Yesterday reports surfaced of some things that were said to one of the Sioux coaches by one NDSU student. The reports said that “racial slurs” were hurled at Shannon Baugh, a black assistant coach of the Sioux women’s team. Today it was reported that the “racial slur” was something along the lines of “hey coach, nice afro” (Soucre at In-Forum.com Free registration may be required). This purported “hate speech” of course was referring to the woman’s haircut, a large bushy style referred to as an ‘afro’ or ‘fro’ by anyone and everyone that is capable of speech, regardless of race. Have we gotten so overly sensitive to race in this country that we can’t poke fun at someone’s haircut if they are a minority? I’m unable to count the number of times I’ve heckled someone on the court because they have an odd haircut. A large guy with a shaved head is called “Ug.” Someone with a shaggy head of hair automatically gets “Scooby Doo” references hurled upon them. If anyone actually dared to sport a mullet, well, I won’t even start on what would happen to them….. Do people go too far sometimes in heckling the opposing team? Of course. Do some people choose to say incredibly stupid things and shout racial slurs at other people? Unfortunately, yes. Is poking fun at someone’s afro going over the line on the race issue? That’s for you to decide. But I feel that this could set a dangerous precedent. Heckling is part of the game. Is it okay to heckle only white men now? If I go to the games tomorrow night and make fun of someone for a bonehead play they make, are they going to cry racism? Its issues such as this where people seem to overreact that desensitize us to the word “racist.” That word is thrown around so often now days, when someone is truly deserving of the title, it is almost meaningless.
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