Just Sick of It!

On October 3rd and 4th in 1993 the United States military, Rangers and Special Forces were engaged in a heated battle in Modadishu, Somalia. The heavily out manned and under supported forces fought hard to complete a ‘low profile’ mission to attempt to capture members of a vicious warlord. Those two days would write our nations military’s policy for years to come.

What policy did it write you may be asking? On October 6th 1993 the Clinton administration conducted a policy review which the result of which was to halt all actions by U.S. forces in the region. These two days of fighting and some horrific images of barbaric treatment of dead U.S. soldiers on TV showed the world that the United States didn’t have the stomach for a prolonged, and bloody fight, we were a paper tiger.

Paper tigers look scary, I mean that’s a tiger right? It could cause some damage. Oh wait that tiger is made of paper, I could blow it over, man that wasn’t bad at all. You could practically hear the worlds terrorists laughing and cheering when we stuck our collective tail between our legs and ran.

Fast forward 16 years and we’ve been in Iraq for almost 6 years. For a comparison, the entire world war two lasted 6 years, not just our involvement in the last 3 or so years. The war in Iraq is gritty urban warfare, and in the time of embedded reporters and high definition TV’s we have found the guts to stick it out. I know, I know the liberal panty waits don’t have the gusto to do it, but we did show that as a country we can when we have to.

Don’t think we had it easy, like in 93’ the terrorists tried every play in the their play book. They dragged American bodies through the street, kidnapped people, pulled out bodies of women and kids to an area where a bomb hit and said we kill civilians. Again and again we cried and moaned, but we pushed on and stayed the course, we were no longer a paper tiger.

It was a high price to pay in American lives and money. But we showed that when pushed and bloodied we can bring forth armageddon and have the will to keep our collective boot on the throats of those who think we will fold at the first sign on trouble. I’m not saying this won’t change in the new Obama administration, and we could revert back to our paper tiger ways, but for the time being they will have a little gremlin of doubt.

Yes it was a Republican president, but seeming we have the ability to swap those out every 4 years it can keep the terrorists on their toes and if they happen to have a long running plan hatch when another one of those is in offices, i.e. sometime around 2020, then they will be another country or two lighter.

There has been a quite, may semi-quite, storm brewing on the Internet as of late about a tiny, no nothing island out in Alaska, called Gull Island. Gull Island, and by extension the under it and Alaska, could be the solution to lowing the price of Oil within the next few year. This has spread so much as of late that on today’s Sean Hannity show a caller mentioned it to the guest host.

So in case you are having trouble finding out about this little island that could let me give you a little history and information that I have collected. Gull Island is located about five miles off shore from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska’s northern slope.

Gull Island, although close, is not in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or ANWR which you can see the border of it does not cover the Prudhoe Bay area and is a few miles north east of the ANWR area boundary, which is also clearly visible on the official ANWR site.

In the 1970’s Lindsay Williams a Chaplain for the Alyeska Pipeline Company witnessed ARCO drill, test, analyze and then cap a huge oil find on Gull Island. It’s been said that Gull Island has enough oil to pump 2 million barrels of oil a day for 200 years. We import about 10 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2007, so using 1970 era figures and technology we have solved 1/5th of our foreign oil dependence on an already drilled and currently capped well.

But that was 1970 and technology has gotten at least a little bit better since then. Keeping that in mind I believe that 2 million is a entry level figure and should at least double with current technology and methods. If we start drilling now we will see our prices start dropping soon, but it won’t be by a lot. By freeing our oil companies to build new we will be sending a message to the futures markets and futures prices will drop.

If we leave our local oil and Gull Island to just sit there we could end up paying a lot more and oil will reach $170 a barrel easy. If you don’t believe me King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia today mentioned in a speech that we should all get used to current prices and prepare for even higher rates.

But there is no problem right? We could all be switching to other cars, and all those people that can’t afford an electric car or a hybrid should just walk or take the bus, because that’s how you move a family with kids around, the bus. But let is not live off of our land here in America who is without a doubt the most resource rich country in the world from oil to natural gas.

So let the debate rage on. Let’s keep pushing our country toward a depression by raising the cost of transportation and goods to a level where the low-middle and lower class of our society cannot eat or get around. Somehow I should be more worried about a few anamials and micro-organisms in Alaska then my next door neighbor, yea that makes sense.

Just sick of it perfectly sums up the the sentiment of the majority of Americans. The Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Green party members are all disappointed and disillusioned. I personally believe that this is testament to the importance of not relying on the federal government. Never fall for the flattery rhetoric that promises an easy life Barrack Obama, Hillary, Bush, and John McCain have never felt. we need to focus on the importance of individual responsibility. Here are some examples:

Energy: Stop blaming the oil companies and go for a walk every once and a while. I don’t care how expensive gas is because I have a fuel efficient car and a bicycle.

Social Security: The fact that I have been relying on the government to take care of my retirement is absolutely repulsive. If they stopped taking that 83 dollars out of my check I would have 100 dollars directly deposited into a retirement fund or 401k.

Health Care: Its not hard to get health care, and its not hard to have whatever is left over written off or to make a payment plan! I know because I have done it. Conclusion, there is no health care problem!

If these example don’t make sense to you, please comment me.

Sincerely: J Smith

Updated 7/1/2008 [ED: Minor changes and styling]

The war in Iraq is a popular topic, but is starting to loose out the economy in the heated “Why I hate Pres. Bush” debates among the more crazy morons of our citizenry. Well, I feel charicatizing those discussions as debates is a little misleading, more like love-ins. But as always the point is missed and ’some’ people just tend to like to trout some so called ‘damming facts’ that should end all debate on the issue and follow them like lemmings.

So a little full disclosure first, I know a few people close to me who are in the military and are or have been fighting in Iraq. So unlike most of the crazy morons I have more skin in this race then most. That being said, the last thing I want to do is see them hurt or dead. But it was their choice to enlist in the first place. If you join the military you forfeit your freedom for about 6 years not 2 years like the crazy morons like to use for the stop-loss argument, maybe they should read the contract a little closer. But you could also loose your life, the military isn’t a game it’s a serious matter and that’s what those heroes sign on for.

We make a huge deal with one of our brave soldiers fall in the line of duty, as we should. But where is the crazy morons caring for the police officers that also fall every day. In the Iraq war thus far, 2003 to 2008, we have had 4012 soldiers die in the line of duty. In that same time period we have had 839 police officers die in the line of duty, which is about 20% of the number of soldiers that have died, almost 1/4. Where is the constant reminder for them? Where is the outrage over the practical war zone that is occurring in the city of brotherly love?

Let’s be honest, the crazy morons don’t care about the soldiers, they have a hatred for the military in general. You can’t care for them that much that you want them home but hate them at the same time that you will bomb their offices. Cut the crap, you hate the war because you hate Bush, you use the veil of ‘brining the soldiers home’ so you can be an anti-war zealot but be ‘for the troops’ at the same time.

So where are the crazy morons missing the obvious when it comes to the Iraq war? I guess they have never heard of the saying, “The best defense is a good offense”. Let’s face it, you cannot fight someone on our soil who blends in with the populous and will willing kill themselves. Their goal isn’t to conquer land, or gain power. It’s to kill as many Americans as possible. So, what do the terrorists hate more then just plain Americans? That’s right, American Soldiers! But unlike a plain ole’ civie, a solider is properly trained and armed, so it evens out the fight.

In one day we lost 2,740 people, and in 5 years we have lost 4,012 brave soldiers. So what’s more costly in American lives? Terrorist attacks in America or a war where our soldiers can kill them before they kill others?

Hey terrorist, you just got p0wn3d!