My Ancestor was an Ostrich

[tealin]

The 'Long War'

[starts packing to move into cave]



EDIT: Seems like we're getting a decent party together – we can have a campout in my cave, with hot chocolate and s'mores and a merry sing-song! Tra-la! (You guys post the best comments. :)

Comments

[bad-squirrel.livejournal.com]

but what’s even more interesting is that the military are using giant fish to transport the troops :\

[lumosart.livejournal.com]

Is there space for me? That is seriously depressing and scary

[poisonedwriter.livejournal.com]

I just came from my own browsing of BBC and when I was reading this, I couldn't help but think: "shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..."

My mom: "Who the hell is this f*ckhead in Washington?"

What scares the absolute shit out of me: One of my best friends in the whole world is enrolling in the Air Force Academy.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not like he(?) doesn't know what he's getting into ... remember how a few years ago people were signing up for the army in droves for the free college education? Back when everything was peaceful and happy?

[crypticidentity.livejournal.com]

[expletive deleted]

AAAAAAAUGH. [head hit keyboard]

[mothos.livejournal.com]

The entire time reading that I kept on making mental comparisons to 'Where in the World is Carmen Sad diego?'.

Lynne Thigpen would suddenly come crackling over a speaker,"Ok agents, it looks like an al-qaeda terrorist has struck again, they've stolen a ziggurat, no doubt looking for new technologies for deadly new WMD, so pack your bags, you're off to... Peru!" Cue Rockapella.

[ledygrey.livejournal.com]

Rockapella?!
*gasp*
*SQUEEEEs like demented fangirl*

[ravin-raven.livejournal.com]

"Well she sneaks around the world, from Kiev to Carolina..."

I have this on my iTunes. I less than three Rockapella.

*boogies down*

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

WOW, blast from the past! I remember that show!

[aurorawest.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm missing something, but what's the big deal? Did anyone think that terrorism was going away?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Well, no, but I think the last five years have proven it's futile to fight it this way.

[wizardelfgirl.livejournal.com]

Just drop a bomb an kill us all! Then after many years maybe ants will evolute and become intelligent beings and they might just do things correctly, or at least better than us.

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

I think the cockroaches are already working on that.

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

My ancestor was also an ostrich.

I'll be in the storm cellar, if anyone needs me.

*picks up case of bottled water and wanders off*

[flutteringazure.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... It's a frightening article but I'm somewhat surprised that someone has finally realised that it's not about one country against another anymore...

Sometime last summer I read the book Terrorist Hunter (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060528192/qid=1144739301/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-1230691-1315957?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) which scared the shit out of me but which also showed me that maybe it's time to get to the heart of terrorism through other means than by bombing cities.

However, the thing that bothers me about this "Long War" is that it might, as with every war, have more impact on people who have nothing to do with it. I cannot shake the thought that this is all going to end up in some "Big Brother is watching you" scenario...

*sigh* So, anyone got a cave left they might want to share? I'll bring my cooking skills :)

[mincot.livejournal.com]

The Shrub is definitely going for a "Big Brother is watching you" scenario--just look at the willingness he (And to some extent Tony Blair) has to erode civil liberties in the name of "safety."

Can I join you in the cave?

[cerridwen666.livejournal.com]

I've got some room, as I can't cook, I wouldn't mind the company. Also, this is why I try to avoid the news sometimes, because it scares me.

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

I could not have said it better! Thanks for your comments!




Love your country, but never trust your government.

― Robert Heinlein

[ari-enchanted.livejournal.com]

Wasn't "The Long War" the title of a Brian Jacques book or something? That's sad.

I like the guy who wants to shoot cannons at the internet. He's going to make lots of friends.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I think that was The Long Patrol and referred to distance rather than duration, if I remember correctly...

Your comment about the cannon guy made me laugh. : )

[tannhaeuser.livejournal.com]

Lest we forget

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

The Jihadists have stated their long term goal is the destruction of the "Western" way of life. I for one believe them. I remember the pictures from Afghanistan with women being shot or beheaded in a public arena for simply being seen with a man who was not their husband. Not the "Hollywood" "with" either, just in the neighborhood of without another adult male being present.

Nobody wants war, but the alternative is submission.

[lady-nimua.livejournal.com]

I started reading the article, but then I decided that anything that makes the word DOOMED appear in my head in big, bold letters is probably something I shouldn't read because it would make me hysterical. *points at icon and starts packing*
I'm bringing sweets and books to the cave!

[poisonedwriter.livejournal.com]

For some reason, Titan AE just came back to my consciousness. I'm envisioning us all building a giant spaceship that will hold all the materials necessary for a new Earth. Then when we're finally far enough away from this planet, we can launch our own and maybe even live happily upon it.

Nightly Kum-Ba-Ya sessions on Planet Bob!

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, another of my favorite movies!

I just don't think we are up to that level of technology that we can create another world, and I do hate the thought of giving up Earth, even if Planet Bob is another alternative-unless it is the last hope. In Titan AE it was an alien lifeform but in this case, as in the Pogo comics, "We have met the enemy and they are us"- the worst enemy of mankind is mankind.

[anathelen.livejournal.com]

Ooh, ooh, I'll bake studel!

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

It's hard for me to tell, just from reading this article, exactly how they propose to fight this war differently...
making better use of "soft power" - diplomacy, finance, trade and technology...build new relationships with other agencies - like the FBI, the police and the state department - through what in military jargon are called "joint inter-agency task forces".
Huh? So does this mean they plan on using guerilla tactics (like the American revolutionaries? Or the jihadist suicide bombers?) themselves? To "fight smarter"? Or using "diplpomacy" and "trade" as alternatives to fighting? I realize I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this. Some of the ideas presented - like sending people over who are actually familiar with the culture and can SPEAK THE LANGUAGE (DUHH!) sound great (if somewhat obvious) but may be too little too late at this point (aside from the way the invasion itself was carried out, we - as in the US military - had a very narrow window in which to contain and control the aftermath, and still win the hearts and minds of the majority of the citizenry, and can we all agree, politics aside, that we completely blew it? We were not remotely ready to handle the situation and we went anyway!)
What really scares me, what has only been mentioned to me in passing, what I have heard next to nothing about in the media, is THIS:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-nuke6apr06,1,3095478.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0628-01.htm
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/02/148233
So, assuming your cave is deep enough (and far enough removed from Livermore or New Mexico), I'd appreciate it if you'd scoot over and make a little room for me after all...I can cook!

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

EEP!

*starts building fall-out shelter*

[azvolrien.livejournal.com]

*sets up camp in the vaults under the Old Town* Look at me, I'm flippant.

The Long War. Original.

My country has Napoleon Syndrome.