War

I'm getting a little disgusted with some members of Congress, especially the Democrats who are complaining about President Obama's decisions on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Where were they when George W Bush took us into wars in those places? They were all gung ho and ready to support King George II in his "war on terrorism". Few in either house voted against anything to do with the wars, and they certainly didn't demand an exit strategy! If they had read any of the reasoning against going into Baghdad and removing Saddam during the First Gulf War, they would have realized that invading Iraq was a fool's errand. And, indeed it was. The whole of the Middle East is destabilized and any major withdrawal from Iraq will probably mean an invasion by Iran and a Civil War. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, all we needed to do was look at the Soviet Union's debacle in the 80's. If we didn't want to be stuck in Afghanistan forever, we should have stayed out. The CIA could have taken out bin Laudin in a swift surgical strike. We never did get him and now we have helped destabilize Pakistan and are fighting the same folks the Soviets fought! The problems and enormous and can't be solved with simplistic actions. Wake up Congress! Become part of the solution and not part of the problem.

More Football

Tonight the University of Oregon will play Oregon State University in the "Civil War" football game. For the first time in the 107 year history of the game the winner will be the PAC-10 Champion and play in the Rose Bowl. For years, college football in Oregon has been a step-child in the PAC-10, the state has far fewer people than California, or Arizona and, yes, an even smaller population than Washington. This, and the fact that both schools are in relatively small communities, puts them at a disadvantage in recruiting. However, in the past 10 to 15 years, new scholarship rules and some wealthy alumni have helped narrow that gap. The Oregon schools are now competitive and like the long suffering Chicago Cubs fans we supporters are having a good time knowing that our teams have a chance at a big time bowl game.

I am a University of Oregon fan, but I am reveling in the fact that winner of the "Civil War" will be playing in Pasadena on New Years. Go Ducks! Good luck Beavers.