Chewable Bite: Up Armor This!

Before I get to the Chewable Bite - let me say I've been down with the pertussis, and it's good to be back! Pertussis is no joke, friends. Not even a little bit funny. Well, okay it's a little funny, but not rubella funny.

Let me also say happy birthday to Mrs. Duf...looking good at 29! I got you a crown roast of pork(24 rib). Bon appetit, eat them in good health, and many happy returns of the day.


Chewable Bite: Sometimes You Get the Shrapnel, Sometimes the Shrapnel Gets You, or May You Always Get the Commander in Chief you Deserve (an essay in 250 words or less)

“You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have,” said the Chicken Hawk to the soldier. Now run out there and get some shrapnel, son! We promise you’ll be a hero with substandard benefits when you get back. Hey, gotta keep taxes down.

With that quote, Rumsfeld made subtle reference to the Clinton administration. We should have kept post Cold War military spending in the stratosphere (like Star Wars). Look, no more scapegoating Clinton! The lack-of-preparedness buck stops with Bush. It’s called accountability!

The beauty of going to war because you want to is that you can go when you are ready. This is especially true when your war enemy (Saddam) is not linked to your actual enemy (Osama). Eradicating bad men can always wait (see, e.g. unchecked despots everywhere). I’ve never trained at the War College, but logic suggests - get your troops, your armor covered vehicles, your Kevlar, your weapons, your plan to win the peace, and your exit strategy, and THEN go to war. Am I micro-managing?

We all remember two things: (1) the Generals looked Bush in the eyes and said we were ready. (2) the whole Bush team predicted a cakewalk. Who needs armor and Kevlar at a parade celebrating occupiers…er…um…liberators?

So here’s the quote rewritten by the crack staff here at iliveinminnesota: “You go to war with the Commander in Chief and Generals you have, not the one’s you might want or wish to have.”