IMNSHO, the 'Earth' character Jen Wolling had it right. Read everything and let your worldview be shaken every once in a while. So, just for the heck of it, I thought I'd post an opposing viewpoint courtesy of Molly Ivins. :-) As much as I personally disagree with the current French policy and attitude, she does make some interesting points.
Personally, I find the kind of bigoted, generalized attacks on a particular nationality to be beneath contempt. 1.4 million fatalities is a greater number than all the fatalities in all the wars the U.S. has fought. And wouldn't the Miracle on the Marne, fought 30 miles from Paris and a clear French victory that stalled the German advance on the French capitol be considered a defense of Paris? Ivins article had me reading a bit of WWI history and I came upon the following interesting quote from The Columbia History of the World:
"With what innocence, with what enthusiasm, did the Europeans of 1914 respond to the tocsin! No one foresaw even the contours of the disaster ahead and most people welcomed the war as a great patriotic adventure. After a decade of worsening crises and a spiraling arms race, they had come to expect a final showdown, but after decades of peace, they had forgotten what war was like and few had an inkling that a modern war would multiply the terrors of earlier conflicts. Europeans marched off to battle with something close to exultation, proud in their patriotism and certain of their cause, confident of a victorious end in a short time. It was the last time in our civilization that war could be greeted in this fashion."
While I'm confident that we can defeat Iraq quickly, I dread that it is just the opening gambit in a wider war that won't be won so easily. We seem so confident that we can purge the world of terrorism, but when we look at the Israeli/Palastinian conflict as a microcosm of a conflict between a strong democratic nation and terrorists do we see an easy Israeli victory? And their enemy is contained within a very small area at their doorstep. Do we really think we can contain terrorism world wide through force of arms?
So we march off to battle with something close to exultation, proud in our patriotism and certain of our cause, confident of a victorious end in a short time. Maybe _this_ will be the last time in our civilization that war is greeted in this fashion. Let's just hope that if so, it isn't because there is no civilization remaining.
Doug
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