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March 21, 2003

Reality TV

This war in Iraq is unbelievable. Its not unbelievable because of the enormous amount of fighting going on: there really isn't any. Its the ovewhelming amount of information being given on a constant basis.

What's amazing is that I can turn on the TV or look on the web and watch numerous different live feeds from various groups of ground units, on carriers, in downtown Baghdad, and now from refueling planes. Its just a constant barrage of real-time information. It's hard to process it all.

NPR is cracking me up lately. With nearly every news brief, they mention the anti-war protests. These protest are funny, because they're hyped as something that nearly everyone believes and are occuring en masse everywhere. In fact, 72% of Americans support the war (right or wrong), and in today's protest in New York City anti-war protesters were only able to muster about thirty people. In a city of millions, only 30 people showed up.

I'm glad the war is going quickly though. So far Sadaam hasn't thrown any curveballs, like chemical weapons on Tel Aviv, that would really mess things up. It almost seems to be a textbook by the numbers war. I like that we're taking our time, going very slowly, making sure to cover all our bases to limit unecessary loss of life. I also like the fact that immediately behind our "fighting" forces are thousands of aid workers with food and supplies for any people who are "liberated."

People are really upset with America for choosing war over peace, but I've got to say, if this is how America is going to wage war, I can't imagine any better way to do it.