Public Works Director Weighs Anchor

This deal in Iraq is beginning to touch more and more of us. Our Paula Brown, Director of Public Works, was called up for duty in Iraq. Since traditional warfare doesn't exist there, everywhere is dangerous. She's a Captain in the Navy Reserves, with decades in the military. I can only wish her the best and pray for her safety.

If Ashland ran things, of course we would not have invaded. Yet we all were told that Weapons of Mass Destruction were stockpiled to be used against us either by Saddam or Al Queda. We were told that Sadam constituted an imminent threat. What we were told was not the truth.

It reminded me of the vaunted Domino Theory that was the underpining of the Vietnam War. The fact that the Vietnamese had been fighting the Chinese for a thousand years was inconvenient and immediately dismissed. That war tore apart a whole generation of Americans. Iraq has the potential to do the same.

We dreamed up a little Gulf of Tonkin fantasy to get the public and politicians in a froth, then expanded the war. In the end we lost a bunch and the vietnamese lost millions, mostly civilians.

I know that Paula has only good in her heart, but many who are fanning the flames there have souls of coal.

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I'd sure like to see the troops start coming home. An endless war on a noun or belief is, by definition, unwinable.

When we invaded we captured all the oil infrastructure, but didn't have the troops or the orders to protect the museums, libraries or other cultural institutions. We built a military base on top of Babalon and used artifact laden sands to fill sandbags for defensive positions.

I am happy that some rebuilding is being done, yet I can't help but lament our total disregard for the Cradle of Civilization. We refuse to count or acknowledge the many tens of thousands of civilians that we have killed.

We're going to need a lot of luck or a change of direction.